•tw 


University  of  California  •  Berkeley 


PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES 


IN 


HANDLING  CATTLE  AND  SHEEP 


BY 

MAJOR  W.  SHEPHERD,  R.E. 


ILLUSTRATED 


NEW  YORK 
O.   JUDD   CO.,    DAVID   W.   JUDD,    PRES. 

751  BROADWAY 

1885 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1885,  by  the 

ORANGE  JUDD  COMPANY, 
.  In  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


INTERIOR  OF  RANCH Frontispiece 

PAGE 

RANCH  IN  WYOMING , 24 

LASSOING  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 38 

A  SAGE  HEN 132 

CATTLE  BRANDS , 182 


256414 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 


To  write  a  book  after  travelling  in  America  seems  in- 
evitable. Is  it  a  disease  catching  from  one  traveller  to 
another?  or  is  it  caught  in  the  country  ?  The  subject  is 
so  large,  the  parts  so  various  ajid  changing,  that  however 
much  you  may  have  studied  the  country  in  books,  you 
cannot  help  seeing  and  hearing  much  that  is  new  to  you 
and  vanity  suggests  new  to  others.  We  all  start  with  a 
good  intention  of  writing  nothing ;  we  break  down  in 
our  resolves,  and  are  often  delivered  of  crude  and  hastily- 
formed  notions,  whose  faults  we  do  not  see  till  others 
tell  us.  But  does  not  every  parent  look  on  his  child 
for  a  time  as  a  novelty,  a  necessity,  and  an  object 
of  public  interest.  The  following  narrative  has  not 
been  compiled  from  guide-books  or  statistical  pamph- 
lets. I  have  told  what  I  saw  and  experienced,  and  have 
not  ventured  to  deal  with  social  problems  or  large  gen- 
eralizations. Before,  therefore,  starting  on  a  trip  through 
these  pages,  let  me  say  that  my  journey  took  me  through 
Wyoming,  about  Montana,  across  to  Washington  Terri- 
tory, then  back  from  California,  through  Nevada  into 
Idaho.  Cattle,  cow-boys,  round-ups,  sheep -driving, 
herders,  and  life  on  the  prairie,  these  are  my  text,  to 
which  I  will  strive  to  stick.  As  for  the  fifty  millions 


gV'.  '•  '    '     ;  PR'AmiE '  EXPERIENCES. 

of  people,  white,  black,  and  yellow,  who  inhabit  the 
States,  twenty  months  spent  in  one  corner  do  not  priv- 
ilege me  to  generalize.  My  time  was  spent  mostly 
in  the  midst  of  the  prairies;  there,  naturally,  I  could 
learn  nothing  of  the  east,  centre,  or  south  of  the  great 
Republic;  nothing  about  her  ever-growing  cities,  their 
trade  and  their  peculiarities.  Away  from  the  haunts  of 
men  one  seldom  met  any  of  the  upper  and  educated 
classes,  and  the  pleasures  of  social  and  literary  inter- 
course are  for  the  time  superseded.  The  life  is  some- 
times pleasant,  sometimes  dreary;  there  is  plenty  of  ex- 
posure and  not  a  little  discomfort;  there  is  generally 
good  health,  and  consequently  good  temper;  there  are 
all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men,  who  meet  you  on  perfect 
equality,  whether  better  or  worse  than  yourself;  your 
wants  are  few,  as  generally  you  have  to  satisfy  them 
yourself.  It  is  wonderful  how  you  lop  off  necessities 
when  they  burden  your  time  and  occupations.  You  have 
entered  on  a  new  life  in  a  new  world.  It  is  not  all  ad- 
mirable, for  good  and  evil  are  everywhere  balanced. 
With  freedom  in  forming  new  opinions,  you  are  apt  to 
grow  disdainful  of  the  small  niceties  of  civilization;  the 
trammels  of  society  are  cast  off,  leading  to  a  dangerous 
drop  into  rude  habits  and  ill-restrained  language;  the 
impossibility  of  fulfilling  all  the  refinements  of  the  toilet 
engender  a  disregard  of  personal  neatness.  Much  can- 
not be  helped;  some  might  be  avoided.  Young  men  are 
naturally  the  more  easily  influenced  by  their  surround- 
ings, and  fall  too  readily  into  the  habits  and  tricks  of 
speech  most  honored  on  the  prairies.  This  is  the  main 
educational  disadvantage  to  young  men  starting  alone  in 


PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES.  9 

the  West,  for  good  breeding  has  to  be  nurtured  by 
descent  and  association;  coarseness  may  be  learned  in  a 
day.  The  traveller  landed  in  America,  however,  has  his 
mind  filled  with  serious  projects:  he  hopes  to  find  some- 
thing to  do,  something  which  will  keep  him  for  the 
present,  and  promise  a  chance  of  ease  in  the  future.  We 
have  all  heard  of  the  gains  in  cattle-ranching — is  not 
thirty  per  cent  a  common  return?  Movrick,  one  of  the 
cattle-kings,  began,  it  is  pointed  out,  with  a  single  steer 
and  a  branding-iron,  and  now  his  herds  run  on  a  hundred 
hills.  There  is  money  in  that.  How  can  we  do  likewise  ? 
The  times  for  these  marvels  are  gone  by.  After  the  war 
a  vast  number  of  unclaimed  cattle  were  running  loose; 
they  were  the  spoil  of  whoever  could  rope  them;  then 
those  who  bought  even  ten  years  ago  got  their  herds  at 
a  very  low  average  of  seven  or  eight  dollars.  If  you 
have  plenty  of  room  and  good  feed,  you  may  expect 
eighty  or  ninety  per  cent  of  calves  to  cows;  if,  at  the 
same  time,  the  all-round  price  advances  to  twenty-two 
or  twenty-four  dollars,  the  chances  have  been  much  in 
your  favor.  Now,  the  expenses  in  a  crowded  country  of 
searching  out  your  cattle  at  the  different  round-ups,  and 
in  parts  of  the  country  lying  sixty  miles  from  your  range, 
mount  up  to  such  a  degree,  that  with  less  than  5000 
head  the  stock-owner's  profit  is  far  below  the  normal. 
Men  still  do  start  with  small  numbers,  but  they  have  first 
to  seek  a  very  secluded  spot,  and  then  must  be  constantly 
riding  round  and  driving  the  cattle  back  on  to  the  home 
range:  this  injures  the  cattle;  there  is  great  loss  of  labor 
in  doing  continually  over  again  the  same  work,  and  the 
rancher  is  forced  to  lay  in  a  stock  of  hay  to  feed  his 


10  PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES. 

cattle  in  the  winter  time,  as  he  cannot  allow  them  to 
roam  at  liberty  and  fight  for  themselves. 

For  men  with  small  capital  it  will  prove  nowadays 
more  profitable  to  keep  sheep;  the  tendency  heretofore 
has  been  too  exclusively  to  breed  for  fine  wool,  but  now 
mutton  is  much  in  request,  and  a  big  carcase  is  aimed 
at.  I  do  not  know  that  any  mutton  is  at  present  ex- 
ported, but  sheep  are  multiplying  considerably  in  Col- 
orado, Wyoming,  and  Montana;  it  will  not  be  long  be- 
fore mutton  will  follow  beef  as  an  import  to  this  country. 
Sheep  are  delicate  animals  compared  with  cattle  and 
horses,  and  of  course  cannot  be  let  run  wild  as  the  other 
stock  is;  but  if  a  man  understands  them,  will  live  on  the 
range  to  superintend  his  herders,  and  has  a  farm  where 
he  can  put  up  a  good  quantity  of  hay  for  winter  use,  he 
will  get  more  profit  out  of  his  three  to  five  thousand 
sheep  than  out  of  the  same  money  expended  on  cattle. 
The  business  is  not  popular,  and  the  sheep  man,  unless 
he  lives  quite  apart,  is  always  in  discord  with  his  neigh- 
bors who  own  other  stock.  The  man  who  intends  to 
farm  will  not  probably  go  so  far  West  as  he  who  wishes 
to  rear  stock;  the  new  farmers  are  settling  into  Dakota, 
Nebraska,  and  Kansas,  where  promising  land  can  be 
homesteaded  or  pre-empted;  but  a  very  large  number 
of  new  emigrants  who  can  afford  to  pay  something  for 
improved  estate  find  what  they  want  without  travelling 
so  far. 

If  you  wish  to  get  any  information  in  America  you 
must  "  go  and  see  for  yourself";  this  phrase  is  con- 
stantly the  concise  answer  to  the  inquirer  concerning 
the  West.  It  is  excellent  advice;  it  may  probably  often 


PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES.  II 

cloak  a  certain  amount  of  ignorance  concerning  the 
uttermost  parts  of  their  States  which  the  dwellers  on 
the  Atlantic  shores  do  not  care  to  admit;  but  no  man 
could  hope  to  answer  all  the  questions  of  strangers. 
Probably  due  to  the  influence  of  our  school  atlases, 
which  gave  no  larger  sheet  to  North  America  than  it 
did  to  France  or  Scotland,  we  start  with  dwarfed  ideas 
and  notions  confused  as  to  distances  measured  in  thou- 
sands of  miles.  It  takes  much  travel  to  appreciate  the 
proportions  of  the  new  country.  On  first  arriving, 
therefore,  you  are  apt  to  fancy  that  you  can  gather 
knowledge  while  staying  in  some  of  the  large  Eastern 
towns,  leaning  on  your  experience  of  the  amiable  land- 
lords and  talkative  inhabitants  of  the  Continent;  disa- 
buse yourself  of  the  idea,  or  you  will  certainly  be  disap- 
pointed. To  know  precisely  anything  of  a  neighboring 
State  you  must  go  there,  and  travel  a  day  to  reach  it. 
Sometimes  railway  or  land  offices  pretend  to  supply 
information,  but  as  a  rule  they  know  nothing,  and 
conceal  that  they  don't  know.  A  railway  official  will 
sell  you  a  ticket  to  San  Francisco,  New  Orleans,  or 
Quebec,  to  be  reached  in  the  shortest  time  by  travers- 
ing their  line  to  commence  with,  in  their  solid  trains  of 
palatial  Pullman  sleeping-cars,  magnificent  drawing- 
room  and  world-renowned  dining-cars;  but  whether,  if 
you  need  to  change  lines,  you  will  find  a  correspondence 
of  trains,  or  whether  any  object  of  interest  along  the 
road  would  justify  a  delay,  is  quite  out  of  the  official 
business.  Buy  your  ticket  and  go  about  your  business, 
and  let  the  clerk  go  on  with  his  discussion  of  last  night's 
music-hall  programme,  or  finish  the  newspaper's  de- 


12  PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES; 

scription  of  horrors  and  dog-fights,  and  the  detailed 
interview  of  Your  Special  Correspondent  on  some  inti- 
mately private  family  matter. 

It's  a  new  world,  and  a  very  different  world,  fortu- 
nately; for  travellers  who  hope  to  do  more  than  move 
up  and  down  and  stare  at  buildings,  the  common  lan- 
guage is  a  pass-key  for  the  Englishman,  if  he  will  make 
use  of  it.  Whether  he  wishes  or  not,  the  new  surround- 
ings will  influence  him;  a  short  month,  and  he  ceases  to 
be  surprised;  in  six  months  he  will  find  himself  largely 
Americanized,  and  judge  differently  the  subjects  he  at 
first  felt  inclined  only  to  criticise.  Second  thoughts  are 
not  always  best;  newer  judgment  is  influenced  by  later 
prejudices,  and  may  be  more  incorrect  than  one's  first 
opinions;  in  most  cases,  however,  it  will  be  more  kind. 
The  majority  of  Englishmen  accept  readily  this  new 
baptism,  and  fall  into  line  with  American  ways  of  life 
and  thought,  for  which  they  deserve  some  credit  and 
regard  from  their  cousins  at  least.  On  the  contrary, 
Americans  seldom  care  to  conceal,  and  often  in  their 
conversation  and  newspapers  explicitly  declare,  their 
dislike  of  their  nearest  relations  taken  generally,  and 
nourish  a  hostility  which  desires  to  be  fed  by  injuries  to 
England  and  her  trade.  This  dislike  is  the  only  senti- 
mental side  of  the  American's  political  views.  It  is  a 
tradition  with  them  that  the  British  monarch  stands  for 
despotism  and  aristocratic  persecution  of  the  people; 
and  to  this  idea  alone  would  they  sacrifice  their  positive 
interests  in  connection  with  foreign  countries;  for  the 
rest,  admit  their  wheat  and  bacon  duty  free,  and  go 
your  ways  with  your  old-world  machinery.  For  op- 


PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES.  13 

pressed  subjects  there  is  always  escape  to  free  America. 
France  having  turned  republican  gratifies  the  vanity  of 
the  citizens  by  a  supposed  imitation  of  their  institutions, 
but  French  liberty  must  learn  to  thrive  on  Chicago  pork 
or  be  denounced.  Germany  angers  them  just  at  pres- 
ent; but  her  trade  is  so  poor,  and  her  people  emigrating 
in  such  crowds  to  America,  that  they  rather  look  down 
on  her.  Russia  may  have  once  been  a  political  ally,  but 
is  now  forgotten.  I  doubt  if  the  ordinary  man  has  any 
greater  cognizance  of  foreign  countries.  China  repre- 
sents Asia,  the  negro  Africa,  the  Sandwich  Islands  rep- 
resents a  sugar  monopoly  and  the  world  of  the  Pacific. 

Public  offices  failing  to  help  clear  the  way,  you  will 
fall  back  on  your  acquaintances  ;  near  the  stove  in  the 
hall  you  will  valiantly  check  any  nervous  apprehension 
of  the  habit  which  demands  spittoons,  and  listen  with 
politeness  to  the  friend  who  harangues  in  periods  ;  he 
is  obliging  and  loquacious,  but  in  the  end  you  will  find 
yourself  no  further  advanced  than  with  the  sapient  ad- 
vice, "Go  and  see  for  yourself." 

For  any  one  who  wishes  to  experiment  in  the  life  and 
habits  of  the  prairies,  time  spent  east  of  the  Missouri  is 
time  wasted.  Once  he  has  stretched  his  legs  in  New 
York,  and  got  rid  of  the  cramps  acquired  on  board  ship, 
let  him  take  his  ticket  through  to  some  point,  say  as  far 
as  Denver,  and  thence  make  a  fresh  start.  The  Eastern 
cities  are  not  particularly  interesting  on  the  face — new, 
formal,  and  extensive  ;  to  be  appreciated,  their  business 
aspect  must  be  studied,  which  requires  special  aptitude 
and  facilities.  Every  traveller  makes  his  pilgrimage  to 
Mount  Vernon,  so  called  by  Washington's  elder  brother, 


14  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.   ' 

to  whom  the  estate  first  belonged,  after  Admiral  Vernon, 
under  whom  he  had  served.  Forgetting  bygone  quarrels, 
one's  inclination  is  to  claim  these  men  of  English  stock  and 
English  names,  and  to  reflect  that  the  settlement  of  the 
family  quarrel  is  not  one  which  need  now  embitter  feel- 
ings, nor  check  our  admiration  of  what  has  been  done  since 
a  hundred  years  ago.  Washington's  house,  as  well  as  one 
or  two  other  country  homes  we  passed,  had  a  strange 
resemblance  to  the  houses  of  our  people  in  India — (Kothi 
in  the  vernacular) — that  is,  in  the  appearance  of  the  clas- 
sic fagade,  with  its  straight  lines  and  pillared  verandah  ; 
the  outhouses,  servants'  buildings,  etc.,  added  the  simil- 
arity of  arrangement.  Here  the  material  for  the  walls 
is  wood  ;  there  brick  ;  but  the  coat  of  white  or  color- 
wash covers  these  and  completes  the  likeness.  If  I  have 
not  jumped  to  a  hasty  conclusion  from  too  few  cases 
observed,  this  resemblance,  accompanied  by  the  fact  of 
its  departure  from  any  of  the  ordinary  types  of  English 
domestic  architecture,  is  remarkable.  The  climate  and 
circumstances  of  life  to  which  the  Anglo-Saxon  in  the 
East  and  in  the  West  emigrated,  in  many  ways  were 
similar  ;  that  is,  a  hot  sun  during  the  summer,  in  which 
a  European  labors  at  a  disadvantage,  and  a  number  of 
servants  and  workpeople  of  a  humble  and  easily-managed 
race,  born  to  toil,  and  fed  at  a  minimum  cost.  If,  then, 
every  act  has  a  scientific  value,  have  we,  in  the  above 
case,  without  going  to  the  lower  creation,  unearthed  a 
case  of  adaptability  ?  Is  it  not  also  one  which  might 
help  a  naturalist  of  lively  faith  to  some  very  large  con- 
clusions ?  Another  admirable  instance  of  means  suited 
to  an  end  was  the  good-sized  mallet  wielded  by  the 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  1 5 

Chairman  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  with  which 
he  successfully  drowned  all  discussion  if  the  gentlemen 
from  the  various  States  were  turbulent  and  noisy.  The 
President  of  the  Deputies  in  Paris  has  a  bell  which  is 
likewise  efficacious,  and  tides  him  over  minor  difficulties 
which  do  not  require  the  extreme  measure  of  his  putting 
on  his  hat.  The  pen  is  more  powerful  than  the  sword,  the 
mallet  is  more  powerful  than  many  tongues,  and  reduces 
the  House  to  order  when  gentler  means  would  fail.  A 
group  of  boys  on  the  steps  of  the  platform  catches  one's 
attention  ;  their  duties  are  fetching,  distributing  papers, 
etc.  ;  their  occupation  wrangling  and  rough  play,  in  su- 
preme disregard  of  the  dignity  of  the  House,  and  the 
prosy  arguments  of  some  speaker.  They  recalled  to  my 
memory  the  antics  of  a  band  of  choristers  in  St.  Peter's, 
whose  levity  and  turbulent  joy  when  their  services  were 
over,  contrasted  with  their  prim  demureness  while 
marching  through  the  cathedral,  shocked  one's  sense  of 
awe  in  the  sacredness  of  God's  house,  and  jarred  with 
the  imposing  stillness  of  the  temple. 

Out  of  New  York  the  quality  of  the  food  fell  off  badly; 
even  in  first-class  hotels,  the  liberal  menus,  with  the 
choice  of  twenty  dishes,  where  in  Europe  you  find  but 
two  or  three,  so  often  extolled,  are  the  most  laughable 
take-in  ;  each  small  article  on  the  table  is  enumerated, 
while  many  of  the  dishes  are  repetitions — for  instance, 
under  broiled  and  fried  you  find  the  same  chops,  steaks, 
and  fish  spun  out  into  a  dozen  items.  Relishes  will  head 
various  sauces,  pickles,  and  vinegars  ;  eight  or  ten  differ- 
ent shapes  of  bread  are  specified  ;  the  same  for  prepar- 
ations of  eggs.  Potatoes,  boiled  meats,  cold  meats, 


l6  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

vegetables,  each  give  an  opening  for  more  names  ;  while 
for  drink  you  can  drown  care  in  black  tea,  green  tea, 
Oolong  tea,  English  breakfast  -  tea,  ice  tea,  coffee, 
chocolate,  milk.  The  long  list  does  no  harm.  The 
black  waiter  is  an  attentive  fellow  if  you  tip  him 
well  ;  but  the  materials,  in  my  estimation,  left  much  to 
be  desired  for  improvement — at  least,  I  thought  so,  un- 
til my  opinions  were  completely  upset  by  being  told 
that  "We  Americans  never  can  find  anything  fit  to  eat 
abroad/'  Then  I  humbled  myself,  and  recognized  the 
good  sense  of  the  proverb  " dcgustibus"  for  we  need  only 
refer  to  French  authors  for  an  opinion  on  English  cook- 
ery. The  Caribs,  we  are  led  to  believe,  relish  cold  mis- 
sionary, and  habit  may  make  a  people  prefer  fried  meat, 
hot  bread  raised  with  baking  powder,  and  a  cup  of  tea 
or  coffee  as  the  staple  of  their  dinner.  This  selection, 
from  a  health  point  of  view,  is  funny,  particularly  as  the 
American  is  said  to  have  bad  teeth  and  a  weak  diges- 
tion. He  eats  little  ;  often  tearing  a  few  scraps  from 
his  steak  with  a  blunt  knife,  he  pecks  his  fork  into  one 
or  two  of  the  dozen  soap-dishes  in  which  the  meal  is 
served  ;  he  swallows  hastily  a  cup  of  strong  coffee,  and 
leaves  the  table.  In  the  hall  he  will  drink  a  tumbler  of 
ice-water,  and  then  start  a  smoke  or  a  chew ;  this  pro- 
cess may  stop  hunger,  but  is  not  dining,  would  surely 
be  a  Frenchman's  comment.  In  every  art  of  civilization 
there  is  a  descending  scale  ;  and  while  east  of  the  Mis* 
souri  the  bottom  of  culinary  talent  is  still  a  long  way  off, 
a  thin,  leathery  fried  steak  and  a  piece  of  stringy  lamb 
will  smile  as  dainties  after  a  course  of  doughy  rolls  and 
coarse  bacon  ;  but  to  this  we  have  not  yet  come. 


•PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  \*J 

Really,  after  giving  advice  to  go  West  at  once,  my 
narrative  jibs  terribly  at  starting;  as  it  takes  time  to 
get  over  the  distance,  perhaps  a  too  hurried  skip  from 
New  York  to  Colorado  would  be  artistically  incorrect ; 
it  might  leave  an  impression  at  variance  with  the  inter- 
minable hours  of  railway  travelling,  notwithstanding 
that  a  good  many  are  spent  in  sleep,  which  intervene. 
A  sleeper,  or  berth  in  a  sleeping-car,  is  no  extravagant 
luxury  for  any  one  who  has  to  travel  more  than  twenty- 
four  hours  ;  the  ordinary  seat  in  an  ordinary  car  forbids 
comfort  and  defies  sleep.  By  no  arrangement  of  head, 
body,  or  limbs ;  by  no  propping  with  luggage,  nor 
spreading  of  coats  and  rugs  ;  neither  by  resting  your 
head  on  the  sharp  angle  of  the  window,  nor  by  trying 
to  balance  it  on  the  back  or  arm  of  the  seat,  with  your 
legs  stretched  out  under  the  bench  in  front,  or  bent 
upon  your  own  red-plush  mockery  of  a  seat — in  no  way 
can  you  be  at  ease.  The  place  is  too  short,  and  too 
narrow ;  for  two  fair-sized  men  sitting  upright  there  is 
no  elbow-room  to  spare.  The  constant  passage  of  the 
guard  and  brakesman  down  the  central  aisle,  passengers 
coming  and  leaving,  the  call  for  tickets  at  each  change 
of  train-staff — say  every  three  hours — combine  to  trans- 
form a  night-journey  into  an  ingenious  system  for  keep- 
ing you  awake.  Two  whole  seats,  if  the  passengers  are 
few  and  the  guard  sufficiently  condescending  to  care  for 
your  comfort,  improve  matters  somewhat ;  but  even 
then  the  most  experienced  drummer,  as  a  bagman  is 
called  in  the  States,  makes  but  an  indifferent  bed  after 
he  has  lifted  out  the  cushions  and  laid  them  longways, 
blocked  a  corner  with  his  hand-bag,  and  packed  away 


18  PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES. 

his  superfluous  length  of  arms  and  legs  as  well  as  a  life 
half  spent  on  the  road  from  town  to  town  may  have 
taught  him. 

Therefore,  if  you  have  the  money,  take  a  sleeper,  and 
if  you  wish  to  enjoy  your  journey  travel  in  the  Pullman 
throughout.  As  for  the  theory  of  equality  which  used 
to  be  illustrated  by  the  doctrine  of  a  one-class  carriage 
for  all  comers,  that  has  quite  changed.  There  are  Pull- 
man cars,  first  and  second  classes,  cars  for  negroes  or 
Chinamen,  and  emigrant  trains.  Further,  you  can  slip 
down  on  a  luggage-train  by  feeing  the  conductor  ;  or 
by  some  process  equivalent  to  riding  on  the  buffers  you 
may  do  as  the  boot-black  boys,  who  make  their  journeys 
for  nothing  at  all.  These  two  last  modes  of  locomo- 
tion, however,  are  not  recognized  by  the  company,  and 
the  traveller  without  a  ticket  or  currerfcy  is  sometimes 
shot  out  of  the  train  after  it  has  been  brought  to  a 
standstill  in  the  most  lonely  and  desert  spot  procurable. 
The  journey  is,  as  a  rule,  monotonous,  in  spite  of  the 
disturbing  influence  of  the  fruit-vender,  and  the  best 
endeavors  of  your  interrogating  companions.  The  lat- 
ter are  often  good  fellows  ;  and  if  you  have  no  impor- 
tant business  you  can  forgive  readily  enough  the  per- 
sonal interest  of  their  questions  ;  but  the  man  who  sells 
things  is  an  enemy.  First  he  offers  you  yesterday's 
newspapers  ;  next  time  he  walks  through  the  carriage 
he  drops  two  or  three  handbooks,  guides,  maps,  or 
magazines  beside  each  traveller  ;  the  next  trip  he  forces 
the  choice  of  apples  or  pears,  then  oranges,  California 
grapes,  dried  figs,  maple  sugar,  including  an  advertise- 
ment ;  cigars — each  item  nearly  requires  a  separate  trip 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  19 

up  and  down  the  carriage  ; — last,  he  brings  his  basket 
of  pea-nuts,  and  throwing  two  or  three  into  every  one's 
lap,  he  has  completed  the  round;  not  for  the  day,  but 
for  the  nonce;  he  will  begin  again  at  the  beginning,  for 
sure,  after  dinner.  This  itinerant  trader  certainly  should 
be  suppressed;  his  prices  are  extravagant  and  his  office 
unnecessary. 

In  the  mean  time  the  train  rolls  on,  at  no  frightening 
speed,  though  advertised  as  a  lightning  or  thunderbolt 
express.  Twenty  miles  an  hour  carried  on  all  day  soon 
mount  up  into  very  respectable  figures;  and  travellers 
who  are  charmed  by  a  big  total  of  movement  delight  in 
the  hundreds  of  miles  reeled  off  and  entered  in  their 
log.  To  some  people,  however,  life  seems  wasted  either 
in  a  ship  or  on  these  long  train  journeys;  for  what 
pleasure  may  be  found  in  the  contracted  space,  the 
numerous  meals  hurriedly  gobbled,  and  uniformly  re- 
gretted; the  constantly  passing  landscape  which  leaves 
no  further  impression  than  so  many  miles  of  sea;  the 
chatty  traveller;  the  smoking  traveller;  the  man  who 
asks  you  to  cut  in  at  whist;  the  silent  man,  and  last, 
greatest  bore  of  all,  your  ill-at-ease  self,  whom  you  can 
neither  forget,  employ,  nor  avoid.  At  last  you  run  into 
port  or  your  terminus,  one  last  concern  for  your  lug- 
gage, of  which  in  America  you  are  relieved  at  the  fancy 
price  of  a  shilling  an  article;  a  seat  in  the  bus  costs  one 
or  two  shillings,  and  so  rejoicing  you  return  to  the  ordi- 
nary cares  of  life. 

Colorado  is  a  State  more  known  by  name  to  English 
folk  than  many  older  ones  ;  settlers,  sportsmen,  cattle- 
men, farmers,  miners,  invalids,  have  all  had  a  say  on 


2O  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

the  subject ;  the  climate,  the  mountains,  the  scenery 
and  resources  have  all  been  praised.  Many  have 
found  a  home,  a  few  fortune,  and  some  have  left  their 
all  in  the  Centennial  State.  There  is  still  room,  and 
whether  you  wish  to  amuse  yourself,  or  to  find  occupa- 
tion, or  to  try  a  new  life,  there  are  openings  ;  the  only 
thing  is  to  be  careful,  and  in  no  hurry;  settle  and  wait. 
If  you  wish  to  emigrate  start  young.  The  Americans 
tell  you  that  all  Englishmen  inherit  money  from  their 
parents,  for  which  information  they  quote  their  news- 
papers as  sufficient  authority.  The  great  purpose  of 
Nature  is  to  relieve  this  plethora  by  transferring  the 
cash  into  the  pockets  of  Jonathan  ;  this  is  called 
developing  our  resources  by  Eastern  capital,  and  con- 
sists mainly  of  selling  land,  stocks,  shares,  etc.  There- 
fore, to  be  on  the  safe  side,  if  you  have  capital,  leave 
it  at  home  ;  learn  the  business  you  wish  to  follow  by 
working  at  it  with  your  own  hands ;  pay  no  premiums, 
but  hire  yourself  out ;  if  active  and  willing,  you  are 
well  worth  your  keep,  and  in  a  couple  of  months,  if  a 
sensible  man,  and  meaning  to  get  on,  your  employer 
will  be  glad  to  give  you  wages,  for  steady  men  are 
scarce.  Many  know  their  work,  few  will  do  it,  still 
fewer  are  to  be  trusted  out  of  sight.  You  will  soon  be 
able  to  save  money — a  very  little  no  doubt,  but  enough 
to  make  you  think  of  investing.  This  will  set  you 
inquiring  into  prices,  and  the  chances  of  a  return  ;  you 
will  probably  by  one  or  two  bad  deals  pick  up 
experience,  and  learn  that  saddest  lesson — a  distrust  of 
men.  After  a  couple  of  years  you  may  venture  an 
independent  start.  You  can,  by  accepting  American 


PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES.  21 

citizenship,  take  up  160  and  320  acres  at  very  little 
expense  under  the  Government  land  laws  ;  or,  if  dis- 
inclined to  change  your  state,  you  may  buy  out  some 
one  else  who  has  pre-empted  a  claim  suitable  to  your 
purposes  ;  your  money  will  help  you  to  stock  it  and  buy 
farm  implements.  The  tenderfoot  who  takes  his  dollars 
in  his  trouser-pockets  is  a  lost  man.  Every  old  settler 
with  a  poor  farm,  a  worn-out  wagon  and  horses,  a 
valueless  mine  or  property,  will  make  a  dead  set  at  the 
coin,  and  they  are  not  easily  to  be  shaken  off.  A 
gentlemanly  looking  man  will,  five  minutes  after  a  first 
introduction,  offer  you  shares  or  an  allotment,  or  invite 
you  to  join  his  company,  or  to  try  a  plot  in  his  new  city  ; 
a  refusal  does  not  end  the  matter  if  he  knows  the  money 
is  there.  The  hotel  hall  is  a  public  place,  and  one  in 
which  business  is  usually  carried  on  ;  after  dinner  he 
will  sit  beside  you,  and  suggest  your  going  down  to  see 
the  property  ;  next  day  he  will  introduce  a  gentleman 
who  knows  all  about  it  ;  you  have  now  two  to  deal  with, 
for  they  are  the  most  neighborly  people  in  assisting  a 
friend  to  clinch  a  deal.  If  you  can  hold  your  own, 
congratulate  yourself — you  are  more  fortunate  than 
most. 

In  Denver  you  are  in  the  middle  of  the  stock  country: 
north,  south,  east  and  west,  cattle  have  been  raised  and 
are  still  running  on  the  prairies  where  the  grass  has  not 
been  fed  off.  The  prairies  include  all  the  unsettled 
parts  ;  they  are  sometimes  grass  land,  sometimes  covered 
with  sage  and  other  brush,  amongst  which  grass  is 
found  ;  the  term  takes  in  flat  table-lands,  the  slopes  of 
mountains,  and  what  are  called  bad  lands,  which  are  the 


22  PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES. 

wildest  jumble  of  hills,  ravines,  small  flats  of  excellent 
grass,  and  stretches  of  almost  bare  lava  rocks.  The 
name  is  derived  from  the  French,  who  wrote  on  their 
maps  terres  mauvaises  a  traverser.  In  the  hurry  of  busi- 
ness the  two  first  words  only  were  translated,  and  conse- 
quently left  a  wrong  impression,  for  these  lands  often 
afford  excellent  cattle-ranges  ;  the  grass  is  rich,  water 
is  to  be  found  in  many  deep  ravines,  the  broken  ground 
gives  good  shelter  against  storms,  and  the  farmer  will 
never  come  to  oust  you.  The  men  working  on  the 
prairies  are  to  a  large  extent  young  Americans  who 
have  left  Missouri,  Illinois,  Iowa,  and  other  Western 
States  to  seek  their  fortunes,  with  a  certain  sprinkling 
of  foreigners  ;  but  the  numbers  of  these  are  not  so 
marked  as  in  the  longer-settled  States,  where  farming 
and  commerce  attract  emigrants  accustomed  to  those 
industries,  or  even  as  in  the  mining  camps.  The  usual 
ranches  are  poor  buildings,  built  like  the  Russians  do 
their  houses,  of  logs  joggled  at  the  ends,  but  here  they 
are  very  inferior,  and  seldom  have  more  than  two 
rooms  ;  even  one  room  is  common  ;  the  ready  excuse 
for  not  improving  his  home  is  that  it  is  temporary, 
though  the  man  and  his  family  may  have  occupied  it 
for  several  years.  The  stable  is  a  mere  shed,  the  walls 
of  thin  poles  badly  put  together ;  it  is  hardly  ever 
cleaned  out,  the  animals  stand  in  pits  stamped  in  the 
heap  of  manure  ;  but  the  horses  generally  run  loose, 
and  it  is  only  while  the  team  is  working  that  the  stable 
is  occupied.  At  the  cattle-ranches,  where  half-a-dozen 
cow-boys  may  have  to  spend  the  winter,  and  for  which 
more  money  is  forthcoming,  fair-sized  rooms  are  put  up, 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  23 

the  aceommodation  being  increased  and  improved  year 
by  year.  Bunks  occupy  one  end  of  the  room,  a  huge 
fireplace  the  other,  from  which  the  mound  of  hot  ashes, 
topped  by  two  enormous  logs,  fills  the  room  with  light 
and  warmth.  A  large  area  of  ground  is  fenced  near  the 
ranch,  in  which  horses  likely  to  be  required  are  turned 
loose,  or  portions  reserved  for  cutting  hay.  The  range 
lies  outside  this,  its  extent  depending  on  the  cattle 
man's  ideas,  tempered  by  the  opinions  of  his  near 
neighbors.  There  are  of  course  no  absolute  rights  ;  the 
land  is  all  Government,  even  probably  that  which  is 
fenced,  and  there  is  little  attempt  to  segregate  the 
herds.  Some  of  the  territories  have  passed  laws  ac- 
knowledging settler's  rights  on  streams  or  to  pieces  of 
land  they  have  enclosed  ;  but  this  is  contrary  to  State 
law,  and  latterly  a  circular  was  issued  in  California 
pointing  this  out,  and  distinctly  laying  down  the  law 
that  others  could  enter  on  such  land  without  trespass. 
Among  stock-raisers,  however,  there  is  much  give  and 
take  :  the  first  settlers  naturally  try  to  keep  out  new- 
comers ;  they  must  end  in  accepting  the  inevitable,  and 
that  is,  so  long  as  there  is  grass  cattle  will  crowd  in. 
But  the  greatest  enemy  to  stock  is  the  plough  :  the 
farmers  are  coming  slowly  but  surely  from  the  eastward  ; 
parts  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska  have  gone  over  to  tillage ; 
stock  must  give  way  and  disappear  into  the  mountains 
and  rugged  country.  Almost  the  whole  of  Wyoming, 
Montana,  and  Idaho  are  still  unsettled,  and  in  these 
territories  the  cattle  business  is  still  carried  on  some- 
what in  the  old  style.  Formerly  the  man  who  shouted 
loudest,  galloped  hardest,  and  was  quickest  in  drawing 


PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES.  2$ 

his  "gun,"  was  considered  the  most  dashing  cow-boy; 
if  he  had  come  up  on  the  Texas  trail,  and  had  failed  to 
kill  his  man,  he  was  held  to  have  wasted  his  oppor- 
tunities. But  times  are  changing ;  it  is  only  in  the 
south,  for  instance  Arizona,  where  the  term  cow-boy  is 
equivalent  to  desperado  ;  in  the  north  the  men  on  the 
ranges  are  as  good  as  any  class  of  Americans.  The 
increased  value  of  the  cattle  has  introduced  more  care 
and  gentler  handling  in  their  management. 

While  roaming  on  the  range  the  less  the  cattle  are 
interfered  with  the  better,  particularly  in  the  winter. 
In  this  half  wild  state  they  can  take  much  better  care 
of  themselves,  and  find  shelter  and  food,  whereas,  if 
they  were  herded,  that  is,  controlled  in  any  way  by  men, 
they  would  probably  starve.  The  cows,  which  in  cow- 
boy language  include  all  sexes  and  sizes,  split  up  into 
bunches  and  take  possession  of  some  small  valley  or  slope 
where  water  is  procurable  at  no  great  distance  ;  the 
shallowest  spring  bubbling  up  through  mud  will  satisfy 
a  small  lot,  if  they  get  it  to  themselves — a  spring  so 
small  that,  knowing  it  must  exist  from  the  presence  of 
the  cattle,  you  would  scarcely  find  unless  for  their 
tracks,  and  when  you  reach  it  there  is  nothing  fit  for 
you  to  drink,  and  likely  your  horse  will  refuse  the  mix- 
ture of  mud  in  alkaline  water  which  pleases  the  cow. 
If  water  is  scarce  the  cattle  must  make  long  tramps, 
and  the  country  is  then  crossed  by  deeply  trodden  paths, 
which  are  an  unerring  guide  to  the  thirsty  horseman  ; 
the  cattle  come  down  these  paths  just  before  the  sun 
gets  hot,  have  a  drink,  and  then  lie  down  till  the  even- 
ing, when  they  go  off  again  to  the  pasture  at  some  dis- 


26  PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES. 

tance,  and  probably  feed  most  part  of  the  night.  In 
the  beginning  of  winter  the  cattle  leave  the  high  ground, 
and  the  appearance  of  a  few  hundred  head  in  the  valley 
which  the  day  before  was  empty  tell  the  tale  of  severe 
cold  or  snow-storms  in  the  mountains  ;  they  like  the 
shelter  of  heavy  timber,  which  is  found  along  the  banks 
of  streams,  and  here  at  some  rapid  or  at  the  tail  of  a 
beaver  dam  is  their  latest  chance  for  getting  water. 
They  cannot,  like  horses,  eat  snow,  nor  does  their  in- 
stinct suggest  to  them  to  paw  away  that  covering  to 
reach  the  grass  beneath  ;  in  fact,  the  cattle  will  some- 
times attach  themselves  to  a  herd  of  horses,  sustaining 
life  by  following  in  their  footsteps.  When  times  are 
hard  the  cattle  will  subsist  on  grease-wood,  and  eat 
almost  anything,  but  till  the  young  sprouts  begin  to 
shoot  there  is  on  the  prairie  little  to  find  after  the  snow 
covers  the  ground  ;  bare  cotton-wood  trees  line  the 
streams,  on  whose  bark  horses  will  manage  to  keep 
alive,  but  the  cattle  are  far  less  hardy  than  horses  ;  these 
will  come  through  the  exceptional  winters  in  tolerable 
condition,  when  twenty  per  cent  of  the  cattle  have  been 
lost. 

But  in  choosing  between  breeding  cattle  and  horses, 
the  former  have  some  advantages.  There  is,  and  must 
always  be,  an  increasing  demand  for  beef,  and  in  the 
disposal  of  your  live  stock  there  is  a  great  convenience 
in  being  able  to  ship  any  number  by  a  train  load  to 
Chicago,  and  there  disposing  of  them  in  a  day  ;  whereas 
with  horses  they  must  generally  be  got  rid  of  in  small 
lots  ;  there  is  besides  more  trouble  with  horse-thieves, 
both  red  and  white,  than  with  cattle-thieves.  The 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  27 

Indians  often  shoot  a  calf  for  food  in  the  winter,  being 
altogether  easier  to  find  and  better  to  eat  than  deer  or 
buffalo  ;  some  stockmen  believe  they  lose  a  large  num- 
ber from  the  redskins,  but  these  are  decreasing  in  num- 
bers every  year  and  are  continually  being  restricted  to 
smaller  reservations,  in  which  they  are  more  success- 
fully watched,  and  by  which  they  are  degraded  to  beg- 
gary. It  was  rather  humorous  to  read  occasionally  a 
paragraph  in  the  newspaper,  telling  of  a  "  new  treaty 
between  the  Government  of  Washington  and  the  chiefs 
of  a  certain  tribe,  in  which  the  latter  had  been  induced 
to  give  up  two  thirds  of  their  location,  thus  restoring  a 
large  section  of  valuable  land  to  the  enterprise  of  our 
citizens,  and  still  maintaining  the  best  interests  of  the 
tribe  itself."  The  Indian  policy  of  the  United  States  is 
philanthropical  in  theory ;  the  theory  belongs  to  the 
East,  but  in  the  West  its  practical  settlement  is  carried 
on.  The  white  man  says,  "  I  have  no  use  for  the  In- 
dians," meaning  he  wants  nothing  to  do  with  them — 
but  he  covets  their  land,  and  is  continually  agitating  to 
have  the  Indians  moved  further  off  and  the  reservation 
thrown  open  to  settlement  ;  he  objects  to  the  Indians 
being  allowed  to  hunt  outside  their  limits,  on  the  ground 
that  the  game  in  the  latter  place  has  been  preserved  in 
their  interests,  and  the  white  man  is  on  that  gronnd 
treated  as  a  poacher.  Though  loving  idleness  himself, 
the  settler  hates  it  in  the  Indian  ;  perhaps  it  is  envy 
that  the  latter  seems  better  able  to  carry  out  the  system 
of  living  without  working,  though  any  one  passing  one 
of  these  noblemen  of  nature  on  a  cold  day,  with  the 
wind  cutting  the  skin,  might  well  pity  the  poor  fellow, 


28  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

whose  gaudily-colored  but  loosely-woven  Wanket  and 
deficient  clothing  protect  him  nohow,  while  the  skirts 
are  fluttering  and  exposing  odd  corners  of  his  body  to 
the  keen  blast.  One  man  suggested  compulsory  Euro- 
pean garb  as  a  remedy,  for  "the  Indian  could  never 
work  so  long  as  it  required  two  hands  to  hold  together 
his  clothes."  There  was  sense  in  this  remark.  How- 
ever we  may  feel  on  the  subject  before  entering  on  a 
Western  life,  one  soon  joins  the  opinion  of  the  majority 
that  the  Indian  is  in  the  way  ;  he  is,  however,  doing  his 
best  and  removing  himself  as  quickly  as  the  least  con- 
siderate could  fairly  ask  of  him. 

To  obtain  any  knowledge  of  life  on  the  prairie  you 
must  cast  yourself  loose  from  the  railway,  choosing  for 
preference  some  fair-sized  town  at  which  to  make  a 
start,  as  a  considerable  amount  of  preparation  is  neces- 
sary in  the  way  of  carriage,  utensils,  and  food.  If  you 
are  in  a  small  place  with  a  single  store  you  will  very 
likely  have  to  pay  20  per  cent  more  all  round,  and  be 
delayed  as  well.  If  going  north  of  the  Union  Pacific, 
Cheyenne  might  serve  better  than  most  places  in  which 
to  make  preparations.  If  you  have  never  travelled  be- 
fore on  the  prairie  you  will  be  much  puzzled  to  know 
what  to  take  and  what  to  do  without.  As  to  the  former, 
a  beginner  must  be  guided  by  some  experienced  person, 
who  may  be  hired  to  accompany  him  ;  as  for  personal 
effects,  these  will  have  to  be  curtailed  considerably  ; 
anything  in  the  shape  of  a  box  should  be  rejected,  for 
even  should  you  start  with  a  wagon,  your  luck,  or  the 
want  of  roads  in  a  part  of  the  country  you  would  wish 
to  penetrate,  may  force  you  to  pack  your  kit  on  horse- 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  2Q 

back.  In  such  matters  detailed  advice  is  valueless ; 
each  man  has  his  own  idea  of  comfort  and  of  what  is  in- 
dispensable. It  mostly  happens  to  every  man  by 
degrees  to  throw  away  a  good  deal  of  his  kit  after  he 
has  been  out  a  month,  or  to  deposit  it  in  some  small 
place  of  safety,  where,  it  will  possibly  remain  for  all 
time,  so  far  as  he  has  a  chance  of  recovering  it.  It  is 
not  given  to  everybody  to  be  really  independent.  The 
Indian  mounts  his  pony,  and,  burdened  with  nothing  but 
his  gun,  will  travel  any  distance,  finding  a  meal  here  or 
there  in  some  camp,  or  going  without  with  lofty  disre- 
gard of  his  stomach.  The  experienced  frontier-man  can 
very  nearly  rival  this  :  when  travelling  a  trail  he  knows 
something  about,  a  good  horse  is  enough  ;  a  couple  of 
blankets,  one  under  the  saddle  and  one  strapped  behind, 
is  all  his  bedding  ;  his  clothes  are  on  his  back,  his  food 
he  will  find  in  some  cabin  or  hunter's  camp  of  which  he 
has  been  told  the  situation.  Avoidable  hunger  is  to 
most  men's  notions  a  deadly  sin.  The  freest  way  to 
travel  is  to  have  two  horses,  one  to  ride  and  one  to 
pack  ;  with  these  you  care  not  for  roads  nor  habitations; 
you  can  carry  enough  food  for  a  fortnight,  and  travel 
thirty  miles  a  day  ;  water  and  grass  for  the  horses  are 
your  main  care,  and  next  to  those  fuel.  Not  that  thirty 
miles  need  tie  you,  for  journeys  of  double  that  distance 
or  more  are  of  daily  occurrence  ;  it  is  better  to  make  a 
push  and  reach  good  quarters  than  stop  on  the  way  and 
starve  your  beasts.  It  will,  however,  be  some  time  be- 
fore your  training  will  permit  of  your  going  across 
country  quite  alone.  If  your  means  do  not  allow  of 
your  hiring  a  man,  you  must  look  out  for  some  other 


30  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

outfit  taking  the  line  of  country  in  which  you  are  going 
and  make  some  arrangement  for  travelling  together. 

The  plan  of  the  party  I  joined  was  to  leave  the  rail- 
way at  about  Rawlins,  travel  northwards  till  we  reached 
the  Big  Horn  range,  and  thence  take  a  trail  northwest- 
ward into  the  Yellowstone  country  :  this  would  traverse 
a  great  deal  of  wild  country  where  there  are  no  settlers 
and,  excepting  a  few  cattle-ranches,  no  houses  at  all  ; 
the  trail  is  passable  by  wheel  traffic,  so  our  luggage  and 
provisions  were  carried  in  a  wagon.  The  luxury  of  a 
wagon  will  be  soon  found  out  once  you  have  tried  pack- 
ing ;  you  tumble  the  things  into  the  wagon  in  a  few 
minutes,  while  packing  the  most  moderate  kit  takes 
time;  you  take  nothing  out  of  the  wagon-box  but 
what  you  require,  whereas  at  each  halt  everything  must 
come  off  the  animals'  backs  ;  if,  therefore,  there  is  any 
chance  of  a  wagon  being  able  to  get  through,  there 
should  be  no  hesitation  in  preferring  it.  Once  the 
weather  is  settled  life  on  the  prairies  is  very  pleasant — 
the  work  is  not  hard,  the  meals  are  sufficient,  and  the 
exposure  all  day  long  hardens  the  constitution  and  ena- 
bles you  to  sleep  in  the  open  and  disregard  an  amount  of 
cold  which  is  at  first  unbearable  to  the  skin  made  sensi- 
tive by  indoor  life  and  warmed  rooms.  The  first  break  of 
day  wakens  the  camp.  You  tumble  out  of  bed  into  the 
crisp  morning  air  and  make  a  fire  ;  in  about  an  hour's 
time  breakfast  should  be  over  ;  the  horses  are  then 
caught  and  harnessed,  the  cook  has  washed  up  and 
packed  the  wagon,  he  climbs  on  to  the  box  and  the 
others  mount  their  horses  ;  you  are  off.  There  is  not 
much  to  do  while  keeping  along  the  road  ;  the  game  has 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  3 1 

been  probably  driven  off,  but  it  is  a  pleasant  life  ;  exist- 
ence is  happiness  when  the  body  is  in  good  trim,  the 
mind  free  from  care,  and  the  sun  shining  brightly  :  the 
clear  air  is  exhilarating  and  sharpens  the  senses.  You 
feel  your  day  well  spent  and  your  conscience  approving 
when  your  horses  have  covered  a  good  distance  and  you 
have  satisfied  a  keen  appetite  for  the  third  time;  you 
can  take  a  last  look  at  the  animals  to  notice  in  which 
direction  they  are  feeding,  and  then  close  up  to  the 
camp-fire  till  it  is  time  to  go  to  bed. 

So  long  as  we  keep  the  road  the  wagon  gets  along  all 
right,  but  after  a  few  days  we  must  diverge  on  to  a 
branch  road  which  crosses  the  Sweetwater;  it  is  not  now 
such  plain  sailing,  and  constantly  the  wagon  must  be 
led  around  to  avoid  the  washouts  across  the  trail.  To 
drive  across  country  a  wagon  fairly  loaded,  with  four 
good  horses  or  mules,  is  no  light  job;  there  are  plenty 
of  ugly  places  which  must  be  tackled;  it  requires  on  the 
driver's  part  nerve  to  face  the  difficulties,  experience  in 
passing  through  them,  and  caution  in  avoiding  a  smash 
or  upset,  for  the  whole  outfit  depends  on  the  wagon, 
and  though  minor  damages  may  be  repaired  or  some 
makeshift  adopted,  a  serious  accident  cripples  the  ex- 
pedition. The  first  day's  drive  after  a  long  rest  is 
always  adventurous;  the  team  are  fresh,  and  apt  to  meet 
a  cheek  in  the  draught  by  a  dash  forward;  four  good 
animals  'pulling  with  a  will  have  a  wonderful  way  of 
starting  something,  whether  iron  or  wood,  should  the 
wagon  be  held  by  a  dip  or  rut.  It  is  often  indispens- 
able that  one  rider  pilot  in  front,  choosing  the  best 
places  for  the  wagon  to  cross  any  obstacle;  even  with 


32  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

this  assistance  the  box-seat  will  test  a  man's  skill,  and 
no  one  need  venture  to  occupy  the  position  unless  he 
has  something  more  than  good-will  to  recommend  him. 
Should  the  wheels  on  one  side  only  drop  into  a  good 
mud-hole  this  will  afford  ample  occupation  for  one  or 
more  hours;  it  is  often  the  best  plan  to  unhitch  at  once, 
take  the  team  round  to  the  hind  end  of  the  wagon,  and 
hook  on  to  the  hind  axle;  one  man  must  then  hold  the 
pole  to  steer  the  wagon;  the  horses  may  with  a  good 
pull  clear  you;  if  not  you  must  unload,  and  even  some- 
times dig.  This  occupation  is  not  to  any  one's  liking, 
and  if  the  accident  appears  unnecessary  you  are  much 
inclined  to  grumble  at  the  driver,  who  will  naturally 
abuse  the  man  who  should  have  piloted  him;  you  make 
a  short  journey  that  day,  camp  somewhere  uncomfort- 
able for  want  of  water,  fuel,  or  feed,  and  are  generally 
reminded  of  the  fact  you  were  forgetting,  that  there  is 
no  Elysium  here  below. 

The  trail  lay  through  the  Rattlesnake  range,  which 
was  crossed  by  descending  a  striking-looking  canyon; 
water  was  always  scarce,  and  the  springs  we  found  were 
strongly  impregnated  with  alkali;  the  water  is  disa- 
greeable in  flavor  but  seldom  troublesome  to  digestion. 
There  are  plenty  of  antelope  about,  but  no  other  game, 
unless  it  be  sage  hens.  Our  road  takes  us  across  Poison 
creek  and  Bad-water,  after  which  it  rises  steadily 
towards  the  Big  Horn  range.  There  has  been  a  great 
lack  of  invention  in  naming  the  streams  throughout 
these  western  territories.  Some  few  names  are  repeated 
again  and  again,  attributed  either  by  a  quality,  e.g. 
Sweet-water,  Bad-water,  No-water,  or  by  a  natural 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  33 

feature  of  the  banks,  such  as  Cottonwood  creek,  Willow 
creek,  Grass  creek;  or  the  name  may  derive  from  some 
common  animal,  as  Bear  creek,  Antelope  creek,  Beaver 
creek.  Such  names  recur  so  often  that  they  lead  to 
confusion,  and  it  is  quite  an  advantage  to  find  a  dis- 
tinctive title,  if  not  more  resounding  than  Tin-pot  or 
Deadman,  or  one  taken  from  the  patronymic  of  its  dis- 
coverer, or  of  the  first  settler  on  its  banks.  We  were 
now  in  the  middle  of  the  cattle  country,  and  having  en- 
camped, there  was  an  excellent  opportunity  of  seeing 
how  the  round-ups  were  carried  on  and  the  cattle 
worked. 

A  round-up  is  the  general  arrangement  among  cattle 
men  in  a  given  district  to  work  the  cattle  by  a  common 
establishment:  each  owner  sends  one  or  more  cow-boys 
to  represent  his  brand  and  to  take  charge  of  all  animals 
belonging  to  his  herd.  The  management  is  placed  in 
the  hands  of  some  experienced  foreman,  and  the  ground 
to  be  covered  is  of  great  extent,  occupying  the  men 
from  a  couple  of  months  to  a  season.  The  main  plan 
is  each  day  to  drive  the  cattle  out  of  all  outlying  valleys 
into  some  central  level  spot;  out  of  the  mixed  mass  the 
different  brands  are  separated,  beginning  with  the 
largest  herds.  This  is  a  distinct  advantage  to  the  large 
owners,  as  the  principal  object  of  the  general  round-up 
is  to  get  at  the  young  calves.  While  these  are  being 
cut  out,  as  it  is  called,  the  cattle  in  the  main  bunch  are 
churned  up,  so  that  calves  get  separated  from  their 
mothers;  and  as  the  only  title  to  a  calf  is  that  it  is  fol- 
lowing a  cow  with  your  brand,  those  who  cut-out  last 
will  naturally  lose  some  which  belong  to  them.  Any 


34  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

unbranded  calves  which  are  not  following  a  cow  are 
called  "movricks,"  and  belong  either  to  the  man  on 
whose  range  they  have  been  found,  or  are  shared,  ac- 
cording to  the  local  custom.  The  process  of  cutting- 
out  a  cow  and  calf  is  very  pretty  if  neatly  done;  one 
man  can  do  it;  with  two  it  goes  easier.  The  cow-boy 
rides  through  the  gathering  of  cattle  until  he  sees  a  cow 
and  a  calf  belonging  to  him.  He  follows  these  quietly, 
trying  to  shove  them  towards  the  edge  of  the  herd.  As 
he  gets  them  moving  he  quickens  his  pace,  and  when 
on  the  outside  he  will  try  to  push  them  straight  out  of 
the  mass;  but  the  cow  is  disinclined  to  leave  her  com- 
panions, and  generally  tries  by  running  round  to  break 
back  into  the  main  bunch.  This  the  cow-boy  has  to 
prevent,  by  riding  between  the  cow  and  her  object. 
Cow,  calf,  and  horse  are  soon  going  their  best,  and  the 
cow-boy  must  be  ready  to  turn  as  quickly  as  his  game; 
he  must,  however,  be  careful  not  to  separate  the  young 
one,  for  should  this  happen  his  labor  is  lost;  he  must 
let  the  cow  rejoin  the  herd  and  recover  her  calf.  Each 
batch  of  cows  thus  separated  is  kept  at  a  certain 
distance  off,  say  200  yards,  and  is  watched  by  a  man  to 
prevent  them  rejoining  the  main  herd,  or  from  mixing 
together.  If  the  cow-boy  has  been  successful,  the  cow 
is  soon  blown,  and,  finding  herself  checked  in  doing 
what  she  wishes,  will  yield;  and  seeing  another  lot  of 
cattle  which  she  is  not  interrupted  from  joining,  will 
trot  contentedly  towards  them,  and  having  her  calf 
alongside  will  settle  down  quietly. 

This  cutting-out  goes  on  all  the  day  long,  until  the 
whole  herd  is  divided.     It  is  hard  work  on  the  men,  and 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  35 

particularly  so  on  the  horses,  which  have  to  be  changed 
two  or  three  times  during  the  day.  The  quick  turning 
and  stopping  must  shake  their  legs,  and  certainly  brings 
on  sore  backs.  Their  mouths  do  not  suffer  ;  riding  with 
very  severe  bits  the  cow-boy  has  necessarily  a  very  light 
hand,  and  hardly  uses  the  reins  for  turning;  the  horses 
know  the  work,  and  a  touch  on  the  neck  brings  them 
round  at  a  pace  which  sends  the  beginner  out  of  his 
saddle.  The  cow-ponies  are  rather  small  animals,  and 
half  disappear  under  the  big  saddles  of  the  cow-boys, 
which  often  weigh  forty  pounds.  The  origin  of  the  cow- 
ponies  is  the  bronco,  which  came  into  the  country  with 
the  cattle  driven  up  from  Texas  ;  they  have,  however, 
been  much  improved  in  latter  years.  The  biggest  are 
by  no  means  the  best ;  a  short,  compact  pony  of  about 
fourteen  hands  works  more  quickly  than  a  larger  animal. 
Some  of  them,  with  small,  well-shaped  heads  and  bright 
eyes,  are  very  taking-looking  animals  ;  their  manes  and 
coats  are  shaggy,  showing  coarse  breeding,  and  their 
tempers  not  to  be  trusted.  Each  boy,  when  out  cow- 
punching,  rides  from  six  to  ten  horses,  using  them  in 
turns,  and  without  the  slightest  compunction  riding  one 
horse  fifty  or  sixty  miles,  of  which  a  good  deal  may  be 
fast  work.  After  the  day's  duty  he  takes  off  the  saddle 
and  bridle,  and  without  further  ado  lets  the  horse  loose, 
who,  after  a  good  roll,  takes  up  the  scent  and  rejoins  the 
herd  of  horses  ;  his  turn  for  work  will  not  come  round 
again  for  several  days.  Of  course  they  get  nothing  to 
eat  but  the  grass  they  pick  up  ;  they  are  seldom  shod. 
Their  half-wild  origin  is  attested  by  the  majority  of  duns 
and  sorrels.  The  heavy  saddles  are  believed  to  be  on 


36  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

the  whole  an  advantage,  as  from  their  size  and  solidity 
they  distribute  the  weight  of  the  rider  and  his  kit  over 
a  larger  portion  of  the  horse's  back.  There  is  truth  in 
this  ;  and  for  long  journeys  probably  the  ease  of  the  big 
saddle  more  than  compensates  for  the  extra  weight ;  but 
in  roping  cattle  the  heavy  saddle  is  absolutely  necessary. 
There  are  often  two  girths  ;  these  must  be  well  tight- 
ened, and  even  then  the  jerks  try  the  horses  severely. 
The  end  of  the  rope  is  held  fast  by  a  turn  round  the 
horn,  which  stands  six  inches  above  the  pommel ;  the 
rider  has  often  to  hang  heavily  over  the  further  side  to 
prevent  the  chance  of  the  whole  saddle  being  turned 
round.  The  big  spurs  do  not  hurt  the  horses  ;  to  make 
them  effective  at  all,  the  cow-boy  reaches  his  heels  for- 
ward, and  spurs  his  horse  in  the  shoulder. 

If  there  is  still  time,  it  is  best  to  brand  the  calves  the 
same  day,  as,  after  that  operation,  the  cattle  may  often 
be  turned  loose  to  run  on  the  same  range  in  which  they 
were  caught ;  but  if  the  outfit  to  which  they  belong  has 
its  principal  range  at  some  distance,  the  batch  must  be 
taken  off,  and  driven  and  watched  till  they  arrive  on  their 
own  range.  It  is  not  absolutely  necessary  to  have  a 
corral  to  brand  in,  but  if  you  can  run  your  bunch  into 
one,  it  saves  trouble.  The  corral  is  roughly  and  strongly 
made  of  posts  and  rails  about  five  feet  high  ;  it  should 
be  big  enough  to  hold  your  bunch  of  cattle,  and  leave 
room  for  working.  Just  outside  a  fire  is  lit,  and  one  man 
keeps  the  brands  hot,  which  he  passes  through  the  rails 
as  they  are  called  for.  In  a  small  corral  one  man  on 
horseback  is  enough  inside,  and  he  can  be  dispensed  with 
unless  there  are  any  large  calves  to  handle.  A  man, 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  37 

armed  with  a  rope-lasso,  catches  a  calf  by  throwing  it 
over  his  head  ;  if  a  little  fellow,  the  calf  is  dragged  to 
one  side,  caught  and  thrown  down,  cut  and  branded  in  a 
very  short  time  ;  but  a  calf  of  two  or  three  months  even 
is  not  so  easily  managed.  The  noose  having  been  tight- 
ened on  his  neck,  the  end  of  the  rope  is  passed  round 
one  of  the  rails  ;  the  calf  gallops  up  and  down  the  arena 
at  the  fullest  length  of  his  tether,  jumping  and  bellowing 
as  if  he  knew  his  end  was  coming.  By  degrees  the  rope 
is  overhauled,  and  the  length  which  gives  the  calf  play 
is  shortened.  One  of  the  men  will  then  go  up  to  it, 
catching  it  by  the  rope  round  the  neck  in  one  hand,  and, 
passing  his  hand  over  its  back,  by  the  loose  skin  on  its 
flank  near  the  stifle,  with  the  other.  The  more  the  calf 
jumps  the  better,  and  if  he  is  slow  and  stupid  he  will  get 
a  shake  to  rouse  him.  Taking  the  time  therefore  by  the 
calf,  the  man  seizes  the  opportunity  of  one  of  his  prances, 
puts  a  knee  under  him  to  turn  his  body  over,  and  then 
lets  him  drop  to  the  ground  on  his  side.  Another 
catches  hold  of  a  hind-leg,  which  is  stretched  out  to  its 
full  length  ;  the  first  sits  near  its  head,  with  one  knee  on 
the  neck,  and  doubles  up  one  fore-foot.  The,  calves  gen- 
erally lie  quietly,  and  do  not  bellow  even  when  they  feel 
the  hot  iron  ;  but  a  few  make  up  for  the  silent  ones  by 
roaring  their  best. 

A  good-sized  calf  gives  a  lot  of  trouble.  After  the 
rope  round  the  neck  has  been  drawn  up,  another  noose 
is  thrown  to  catch  one  of  the  hind-legs,  which  should  be 
the  one  not  on  the  side  to  be  branded.  This  rope  is  also 
passed  round  a  rail,  and  hauled  tight  till  the  animal  is 
well  extended.  Somebody  takes  hold  of  his  tail,  and 


PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES.  39 

with  a  strong  jerk  throws  him  on  to  his  side.  A  hitch  is 
taken  with  the  same  rope  round  his  other  hind-foot ;  the 
noose  is  loosened  round  his  throat  ;  but  the  man  leans 
his  best  on  his  neck,  and  holds  his  foreleg  tightly.  He 
must  look  out  for  the  brute's  head,  as  the  calf  throws  it 
about,  and  if  it  should  strike  the  man's  thigh  instead  of 
the  ground,  as  it  is  very  liable  to  do,  he  will  receive  a 
bruise  from  the  young  horns  which  he  will  not  have  the 
chance  of  forgetting  for  a  good  many  days.  The  brand 
should  not  be  red-hot,  and  when  applied  to  the  hide 
should  be  pressed  only  just  sufficiently  to  keep  it  in  one 
place  ;  the  brand  if  properly  done  shows  by  a  pink  color 
that  it  has  bitten  into  the  skin,  well  through  the  hair. 
Some  of  the  stock,  in  the  early  spring,  have  very  shaggy 
coats  ;  and  a  brand  applied  only  so  long  to  their  hide  as 
would  answer  in  most  cases,  would  leave  a  bad  mark 
which  would  hardly  show  next  winter.  The  calf  when 
finished  with  generally  gets  up  quietly,  so  soon  as  it  feels 
the  ropes  loose,  and  rejoins  the  others.  The  cows  sel- 
dom interfere  to  protect  their  progeny  ;  when  you  do 
find  one  on  the  war-path,  it  makes  the  ring  lively,  and  all 
hands  are  prepared,  at  short  notice,  to  nimbly  climb  the 
fence  or  jump  over. 

To  keep  steadily  at  catching,  throwing,  and  branding 
is  hard  work.  The  sun  is  hot,  the  corral  full  of  dust 
from  the  cattle  running  round  and  round,  and  your 
clean  suit  is  spoiled  with  the  blood  and  dirt  of  the  opera- 
tions ;  you  may  have  besides  a  tumble  yourself  when 
throwing  a  calf.  The  process  is  still  worse  if  rain  has 
fallen,  and  the  cattle  have  probably  for  want  of  time 
the  day  they  were  corralled,  been  kept  shut  up  through 


4O  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

the  night.  As  they  run  round  and  round  to  avoid  the 
man  they  see  swinging  his  lasso,  the  whole  area  is  churned 
into  mud  ;  the  animals  dragged  up  get  covered  with  filth, 
which  is  passed  on  to  the  men  at  work.  There  is  a  cer- 
tain excitement  about  the  business  ;  the  cow-boys  will 
work  at  it  very  hard  and  through  very  long  hours. 
The  boss  is  a  great  sight,  and  never  tires,  running  back- 
wards and  forwards  between  the  fire  and  the  struggling 
calves  ;  each  time  he  slaps  on  the  brand  he  seals  a  bit 
of  property  worth  ten  to  fifteen  dollars — he  would  like 
to  work  at  this  all  day  long.  If  the  corral  is  very  large 
the  ropes  are  thrown  by  a  man  on  horseback.  So  soon 
as  a  calf  is  caught  he  takes  a  turn  with  the  end  of  the 
rope  round  the  horn  of  his  saddle,  and  the  horse  drags 
the  animal  to  the  right  spot.  A  cow  accustomed  to 
men  on  horseback  will  sometimes  run  after  her  calf 
with  her  nose  stretched  down  towards  it,  no  doubt  in- 
quiring the  nature  of  its  trouble,  and  a  "What  can  I  do 
for  you?"  but  so  soon  as  she  nears  the  men  on  foot  the 
cow  stops,  and  then  leaves  the  calf  to  its  fate.  If  brand- 
ing is  done  in  the  open,  one  man  holds  the  bunch  to- 
gether, and  the  lassoer  picks  out  the  unbranded  calves, 
and  drags  them  off  to  the  fire.  If  large  cattle  have  to 
be  branded  you  can  do  nothing  without  horses.  The 
lasso  should  be  thrown  over  the  horns  only ;  it  takes 
three  or  four  men  to  hold  the  animal  after  it  is  down. 
When  it  conies  to  an  old  bull,  and  he  declines  to  be 
maltreated,  he  has  his  own  way.  A  couple  of  ropes 
thrown  over  his  horns  and  tied  to  a  post  he  snaps  like  a 
packthread.  A  brand  can  be  put  on  him  by  a  man  on 
horseback,  with  a  hot  iron  in  his  hand,  following  the 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  4! 

bull  into  the  thick  of  the  herd  ;  jammed  in  a  corner  of 
the  corral  the  bull  can  move  but  slowly,  and  there  is 
time  to  press  the  brand,  and  to  leave  a  mark.  Throw- 
ing the  big  cattle  does  them  no  good.  For  all  purposes 
it  would  be  a  better  plan  to  arrange  the  corrals  with 
pens  and  shoots  for  both  separating  the  different  brands, 
and  for  doing  the  necessary  ear-cutting,  branding,  etc. 

When  the  cattle  in  one  place  have  been  settled  with, 
the  round-up  moves  on  ;  the  camp  is  broken  up,  wagons 
packed,  and  a  string  of  four-horse  teams  make  a  start. 
The  cow-boys,  with  their  schaps,  i.e.  leather  leggings 
and  flopping  wide-brimmed  hats,  are  trooping  off  in 
different  directions,  puffing  their  cigarettes,  and  discuss- 
ing the  merits  of  their  mounts.  On  both  sides  moving 
clouds  of  dust  half-conceal  a  mob  of  trotting  horses, 
which  are  the  spare  animals  being  taken  along  to  the 
next  halting-ground.  Soon  the  place  which  was  lively 
with  bustle  is  left  desert,  marked  only  by  the  grass 
trampled  down  and  the  heap^  of  dirt  round  the  old 
camp.  The  cayote  will  sneak  in,  and  have  his  pickings 
on  the  offal,  scraps  of  leather  or  ends  of  lariat ;  then  all 
will  be  quiet  till  the  autumn  round-up,  or  even  till  next 
spring. 

After  the  calves  the  fat  cattle  have  to  be  separated 
from  the  herd  and  driven  off  in  the  direction  of  the 
railway  ;  this  drive  may  occupy  one  or  two  months, 
and  must  be  done  with  deliberation  and  quietness. 
The  seed-bearing  grasses  are  very  fattening,  and  the 
tendency  of  all  the  cattle  is  to  grow  rounder  and  more 
sleek  till  late  in  the' autumn  ;  this  condition  is  natural 
and  very  necessary  to  enable  them  to  live  through  the 


42  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

winter.  The  steers,  mostly  three  and  four  years  old, 
having  been  collected  into  a  band,  are  moved  slowly 
from  day  to  day,  care  being  taken  that  they  cross  plenty 
of  grass  and  water.  At  first  they  are  wild,  and  even 
the  men  on  horseback  have  to  hold  back  a  little  dis- 
tance, showing  themselves  just  enough  to  keep  the  herd 
headed  in  the  right  direction.  All  galloping  or  shouting 
is  discouraged  ;  nothing  must  be  allowed  to  startle  the 
steers  ;  a  man  on  foot  would  possibly  drive  the  whole 
herd  off  into  a  mad  stampede.  A  few  old  bulls  past 
work  are  often  included  in  the  bunch  of  fat  cattle.  A 
low  price  is  paid  per  pound  for  them  in  Chicago,  but 
they  weigh  heavily.  It  is  said  that  they  are  made  up 
into  the  preserved  meat  in  tins.  On  the  trail  they  are 
useful  as  setting  an  example  of  steadiness.  If  the  steers 
are  kindly  handled  and  not  over-driven,  being  young, 
fat,  and  frisky,  they  are  ready  to  romp  ;  should  they 
stampede,  the  bulls,  heavy  and  old  and  not  easily 
scared,  hang  back,  and  look  about  for  the  cause  of  the 
run.  They  will  stop,  and  the  steers  near  them  will  fol- 
low suit.  The  cattle  of  the  northern  territories  have  the 
character  of  being  easily  stampeded,  but  they  seldom 
run  far  ;  on  the  other  hand,  the  Texan  cattle  go  for 
miles. 

One  or  two  men  must  be  continually  in  advance  to 
drive  off  the  range  cattle,  who  might  otherwise  mix 
themselves  with  the  steers,  and  give  much  trouble  in 
cutting  them  out.  On  the  actual  journey  the  herd  is 
encouraged  to  string-out;  the  leaders  find  their  place 
every  day,  and  it  is  only  necessary  to  keep  them  along 
the  right  trail.  A  boy  on  either  side,  and  two  at  the  end 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  43 

to  work  up  stragglers,  are  sufficient,  though  the  line  may 
be  over  half  a  mile  long.  When  halted  to  feed,  the  herd 
should  be  surrounded,  half  the  men  doing  this  work  in 
turns,  the  other  half  getting  dinner,  if  in  luck's  way;  but 
as  it  is  necessary,  both  for  food  and  to  avoid  disturb- 
ance, to  take  the  cattle  by  the  most  unfrequented  routes, 
the  wagon  may  have  ten  miles  to  go  round  in  addition 
to  the  march  of  the  herd.  In  these  cases  breakfast  must 
last  till  supper-time,  except  for  a  snack  that  the  boys 
carry  with  them.  It  is  important  that  the  herd  should 
never  be  left  unwatched.  When  at  night  it  is  thought 
time,  they  are  driven  on  to  a  bedding -ground  and 
bunched  up.  So  soon  as  they  have  steadied  down,  one 
or  two  men  are  left  on  watch,  whose  duty  is  to  ride 
round  and  round  the  herd,  and  prevent  any  straying.  If 
the  weather  is  not  too  cold,  the  night-watch  not  too  long 
and  the  cattle  behave  well,  this  is  not  disagreeable  work. 
The  cool  air  is  refreshing  after  the  long  day's  heat  and 
glare;  you  walk  your  horse  at  a  little  distance  from  the 
cows,  with  an  occasional  short  scamper  after  some  rebels; 
you  must,  however,  keep  moving,  and  show  yourself  con- 
stantly on  all  sides.  To  hear  the  human  voice  seems  to 
quiet  the  cattle,  and  the  man  on  watch  will  often  sing  or 
call  quietly.  One  by  one  the  animals  lie  down.  You 
hear  a  great  puff  as  if  all  the  wind  was  let  out  of  a  big 
air-cushion;  it  is  a  steer  settling  down  on  to  his  side; 
more  puffs,  the  shadows  sink  low,  and  at  last  there  are 
none  left  standing.  The  quiet  of  all  these  huge  animals 
is  impressive,  and  seems  in  keeping  with  the  sleeping 
earth  and  calm  sky;  the  voices  of  the  men  in  camp  hardly 
reach  you;  a  flicker  from  the  fire  catches  the  higher  part 


44  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

of  the  wagon,  and  just  marks  its  position.  Provided 
nothing  extraneous  disturbs  the  \peace,  the  cattle  will  lie 
still  up  to  eleven  or  twelve  o'clock  of  night,  while  you 
circle  in  the  darkness  round  the  black  patch  on  the 
ground,  keeping  a  sharp  lookout  for  any  shadowy  ob- 
jects sneaking  off  in  the  gloom,  and  often  riding  to  in- 
vestigate a  suspicious  object,  which  turns  out  to  be  only 
a  bush.  Before  midnight,  under  some  special  ordinance 
of  nature,  the  cows  are  restless  and  get  on  their  feet;  a 
few  will  try  to  feed  out;  these  you  must  drive  back  again. 
But  before  that  time,  if  holding  the  first  watch,  you  have 
probably  been  relieved,  and  are  back  in  your  bed.  Each 
man  has  a  horse  saddled  and  picketed  near  the  camp  all 
night;  as  if  anything  frightened  the  herd,  or  a  storm 
came  on,  all  hands  must  turn  out  and  mount.  If  the 
cattle  are  really  away,  you  must  be  after  them  without 
delay,  and,  so  soon  as  you  can  stop  them,  bring  them 
back  to  camp,  provided  always  you  know  where  it  is. 
Any  one  left  behind  will  make  a  good  bonfire  to  direct 
the  boys;  but  a  dark  night  with  rain  prevents  your  see- 
ing far,  and  the  camp  has  often  been  chosen  in  a  shel- 
tered spot,  which  makes  it  more  difficult  to  discern  the 
blaze.  The  main  thing  is  to  keep  the  herd  together, 
whether  still  running  or  halted.  If  matters  have  been 
well  managed,  and  no  serious  disturbance  has  occurred, 
the  herd  wakes  up  and  starts  out  at  daylight.  You  string 
them  out  along  the  trail,  and  take  a  count,  or  look  that 
all  the  bulls  and  other  animals  with  distinguishing  marks 
show  up  present  to  the  roll-call,  and  move  off  on  another 
day's  expedition. 

When  approaching  the  railway  station  at  which  the 


PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES.  45 

steers  are  to  be  shipped,  three  or  four  days'  notice  will 
secure  you  a  train.  At  the  appointed  time  the  herd  is 
driven  into  the  railway  stock-yard.  This  is  a  large  in- 
closure,  with  passages  communicating  with  pens  which 
hold  just  the  number  you  can  cram  into  a  car;  the  pens 
are  placed  at  exactly  the  distance  apart  of  the  length  of 
a  car.  When  the  business  of  loading  is  commenced,  the 
pens  are  filled;  the  steers  are  driven  up  a  shoot  and  enter 
the  ears;  the  last  one  or  two  have  to  be  prodded  and 
forced  to  find  themselves  room.  They  should  then  all 
be  fairly  distributed  throughout,  their  heads  up,  and  legs 
clear  of  each  other.  A  cow  hanging  its  head  will  get  its 
horns  entangled  in  some  other's  hind-leg,  and  when  the 
head  is  lifted  the  leg  must  come  too.  A  steer  may  often 
be  seen  caught  by  a  hind-foot  over  a  rail  five  feet  above 
the  floor.  This  has  happened  in  trying  to  kick  itself 
free  from  the  horns  of  a  brother  in  difficulty;  and  until 
the  foot  was  pushed  out  there  it  must  have  remained. 
When  all  are  properly  disposed  the  bar  is  dropped,  the 
door  shut,  and  the  next  pen  is  emptied  into  its  car.  The 
top  of  the  palisade  of  the  stock-yard  is  planked,  so  that 
you  can  walk  all  round  and  look  down  on  to  the  cattle. 
So  soon  as  the  last  ones  have  been  cooped  in,  the  bell 
rings,  and  the  train  starts.  On  well-arranged  lines  the 
cattle-trains  are  run  as  fast  as  any,  and  are  allowed  to 
take  precedence  of  most  other  traffic;  but  every  day  the 
train  must  halt,  and  the  cattle  be  taken  out  for  several 
hours  to  feed  and  water.  At  most  large  stations  there 
are  cattle-pens  with  water  running  through  them,  and 
deep  mangers  filled  with  hay;  the  cattle  get  a  chance  of 
eating  and  quenching  their  thirst. 


46  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

On  first  getting  out  of  their  cars  they  are  more  in- 
clined to  lie  down  than  to  do  anything  else,  for  while 
travelling  they  are  so  crowded  that  they  get  little  rest. 
As  for  lying  down  in  the  car,  that  would  never  do ;  and 
during  any  halt  of  the  train  the  boys  accompanying  the 
herd  must  take  a  look  round,  and,  with  their  poles,  prod 
any  cow  that  is  resting,  and  force  it  to  get  up.  This  is 
done  in  their  best  interests  ;  for  any  animal  once  down 
cannot  rise,  and  is  almost  sure  to  be  trampled  to  death, 
missing  the  ultimate  glory  of  becoming  beef  ;  the  car- 
case is  thrown  out  at  a  siding  and  eaten  by  hogs.  The 
work  of  loading  and  unloading  along  the  journey  is 
very  expeditious.  The  new  experience  of  being  cooped 
up  and  shaken,  or  some  instinct  of  their  impending  fate, 
has  sobered  the  steers  ;  they  are  no  longer  the  sleek, 
shining,  frisky  inhabitants  of  the  prairie.  Bones  begin 
to  show  ;  their  hides  are  dirty  from  close  quarters 
and  lying  down  in  pens  ;  they  cannot  eat  food  enough 
in  the  short  time  at  their  disposal  ;  their  sides  flatten, 
and  they  walk  in  and  out  of  their  cars  with  the  utmost 
docility.  Twenty  minutes  are  enough  to  load  up  a  train 
of  two  or  three  hundred  beasts  ;  each  day  the  proper 
number  fills  into  the  car  with  less  squeezing.  Any 
delays  are  consequently  annoying  to  the  owner,  who 
hates  to  see  his  cattle  shrinking.  Every  pound  of  flesh 
lost  is  money  out  of  pocket  ;  but  so  long  as  Chicago  is 
the  main  market  for  cattle,  they  must  travel  six  or 
seven  days  by  rail  from  the  railway  point  nearest  to 
their  range.  There  is  a  great  opening  for  improvement 
in  the  meat  trade  ;  at  present  the  cattle  are  sent  on 
the  hoof  to  Chicago  and  other  towns,  losing  flesh  an4 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  47 

being  bruised  on  the  journey,  besides  travelling  in  the 
most  expensive  style  in  which  goods  can  be  moved. 
All  this  would  be  obviated  if  the  steers  were  butchered 
on  the  prairies  near  some  railway-station  ;  the  steers 
would  be  in  their  primest  condition,  and  only  the  paying 
portion  of  the  whole  weight  would  be  railed.  The  cost 
of  refrigerating-cars  to  carry  this  meat  must  be  less 
than  the  cattle-pens  which  take  a  corresponding  number 
of  live  animals.  The  commission  and  expenses  along 
the  line  and  at  Chicago  would  be  saved.  The  meat 
trade  is,  however,  in  few  hands  and  tends  to  be  virtually 
a  monopoly.  It  would  require  a  very  strong  company 
to  ship  meat  directly  from  the  prairies  to  Liverpool. 
They  would  find  considerable  opposition  from  all  vested 
interests,  but  should  expect  some  support  from  the  cat- 
tle-owners ;  though  probably  the  whole  success  of  a 
new  experiment  would  hinge  on  the  railway,  who  would 
certainly  differentiate  rates  and  charge  a  little  more  for 
carrying  half  a  bullock  weight  dead  than  for  the  whole 
when  living. 

The  railway  journey  is  as  uncomfortable  as  it  possibly 
can  be  to  the  men  accompanying  the  herd.  The  only 
accommodation  is  the  guards'  van,  which  is  often 
crowded  by  railway  work-people  and  travellers  by  favor 
of  the  conductor.  The  servants  of  the  railway  are  often 
disobliging  ;  and  the  mere  fact  of  the  cow-boys  being 
necessarily  of  secondary  consideration  to  their  charges 
makes  the  trip  a  disagreeable  one.  The  night  is  no 
time  for  sleep.  At  each  halt  you  must  jump  out,  one 
man  with  a  lantern,  both  with  goads,  walk  along  the 
rough  ballast,  and  peer  into  each  car  to  discover  a  cow 


48  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

which  requires  stirring  up.  Having  found  an  offender, 
you  poke  her,  prize  her,  twist  her  tail,  and  do  your  ut- 
most to  make  her  rise.  In  the  middle  of  your  efforts 
the  bell  rings,  the  train  starts  ;  you  clamber  up  the  side 
of  the  wagon  on  to  the  roof,  and  when  there  make  the 
best  of  your  way  back  along  the  top  of  the  train  to  the 
rear  van.  This  little  trip  in  the  dark  is  not  one  to  en- 
joy. There  may  be  twenty  cars,  say  forty  feet  long 
each.  Before  you  have  crossed  two  or  three  the  train  is 
going  at  full  speed.  Only  one  man  has  a  lantern  ;  you 
are  incommoded  by  a  heavy  great-coat,  as  the  air  at 
night  is  keen  ;  the  step  from  wagon  to  wagon  requires 
no  more  than  a  slight  spring  ;  but  it  is  dark,  or,  proba- 
bly worse,  the  one  lantern  is  bothering  your  eyes.  The 
rush  through  the  air  makes  you  unsteady  ;  no  doubt 
your  nerves  are  making  your  knees  feel  weak.  It  is  a 
hard  alternative  to  get  back  to  the  guard's  caboose,  or 
to  sit  down  in  the  cold  on  the  top  of  the  train  until 
you  reach  a  halting-place  ;  having  tried  both,  it  seems 
that  neither  can  be  cheerfully  recommended.  If  you 
do  not  climb  on  to  the  roof  you  must  take  your  chance 
of  jumping  on  to  the  step  of  the  last  car  as  it  goes  by  ; 
this  would  be  the  reasonable  way  if  you  were  allowed 
to  do  it,  but  as  the  driver  does  not  care  to  look  back, 
you  must  consider  whether  you  are  sufficiently  an  acro- 
bat to  rejoin. 

Having  reached  Chicago  there  is  an  end  of  the  busi- 
ness ;  the  cattle  are  turned  into  the  big  stock-yard,  and 
sold  by  commission.  To  visit  these  stock-yards  and  the 
processes  of  slaughtering  are  part  of  the  sightseer's  or- 
thodox duties  in  Chicago  and  need  not  to  be  mentioned 


PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES.  49 

here.  The  above  tells  roughly  the  general  plan  of  the 
work  with  cattle  as  practised  in  Wyoming  ;  but  to  go 
through  the  whole  process  practically  occupies  the  men 
from  April  to  October,  after  which  time  those  who  are 
kept  on  may  prepare  to  settle  into  winter  quarters.  If 
I  now  skip  lightly  through  the  incidents  of  a  summer 
spent  on  the  ranges,  the  petty  details  of  our  life  and  oc- 
cupations may  serve  to  color  a  picture  which  is  at  pres- 
ent barely  sketched.  After  settling  down  into  a  standing 
camp,  our  time  was  occupied  in  bringing  the  cattle  to- 
gether from  all  the  outlying  valleys;  occasionally  a 
bunch  was  driven  in  which  had  been  collected  as  the 
round-up  passed  away  further;  every  second  or  third  day 
some  calves  had  to  be  branded.  A  morning  spent  in  a 
long  ride  through  the  mountains  was  always  enjoyable. 
There  was  continually  something  to  make  a  change ; 
either  the  discovery  of  a  bunch  of  cattle  which  had  suc- 
ceeded in  keeping  out  of  sight  heretofore,  or  your  party 
might  alight  on  a  well-grown  yearling  with  unmarked  ears 
and  smooth  sides.  He  is  a  prize  ;  but  to  lasso  and  brand 
him  gives  the  opening  for  some  fun,  for  he  runs  like  a 
deer,  is  as  wild  as  a  hawk,  and  as  strong  as  a  horse. 
There  are  few  good  lassoers  in  this  part  of  the  country,  so 
instead  of  being  roped  in  the  first  throw,  the  yearling 
probably  gets  away ;  over  rough  ground  he  can  travel 
pretty  fast,  although  the  horses  can  catch  him  easily  on 
the  level.  There  are  many  attempts  made  before  the 
rope  is  satisfactorily  round  his  neck.  He  then  begins 
to  plunge  and  jump,  while  the  man  who  has  hold  of  him 
keeps  the  rope  taut ;  the  horses  understand  this,  and  a 
well-trained  horse  will  do  it  of  himself  with  no  one  on 


5O  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

his  back.  One  man  should  be  able  to  catch,  throw,  and 
brand  a  cow  on  the  plain  ;  but  even  with  two  or  three 
men  the  object  is  not  always  accomplished  so  very 
speedily.  Should  one  man  dismount,  the  enraged  cow 
makes  for  him.  If  the  rope  is  held  tight  there  is  no  dan- 
ger outside  the  ring  ;  but  sometimes  the  rope  breaks, 
or  in  the  charging  and  shifting  the  man  on  foot  may  get 
between  the  animal  and  the  horse  ;  the  cow  will  make  a 
rush,  and  the  man  is  lucky  if  he  can  escape  a  tumble 
and  a  kick.  If  no  other  excitement  was  on  hand  we 
had  always  the  satisfaction  of  slaying  rattlesnakes  ;  they 
were  so  numerous  on  the  dry  hillsides  in  the  sage-bush, 
that  after  the  first  week  one  hardly  took  notice  of  them, 
unless  of  unusual  size.  Your  horse  would  jump  to  one 
side,  and  at  the  same  time  you  heard  a  noise  as  if  a  hand- 
ful of  coppers  were  shaken  together;  this  was  a  snake  giv- 
ing warning.  If  you  got  off  you  would  probably  find  it 
refuged  in  a  bush.  It  was  very  easy  to  kill  them  with 
stones  or  a  stick ;  the  fact  of  their  being  twisted  up  in  a 
sage-bush  prevented  them  from  striking.  As  a  rule  their 
object  is  to  escape,  and  I  only  saw  one  snake  fight.  He 
was'larger  than  the  run  of  them,  and  was  lying  on  an 
open  spot  ;  seeing  himself  surrounded  he  was  very 
vicious  and  met  the  showers  of  stones  by  most  deter- 
mined strikes  ;  these  strikes  do  not  reach  far — a  few 
feet.  The  poison  of  the  rattlesnake  is  not  deadly  ;  I 
could  not  hear  from  any  one  of  a  case  in  which  a  man  or 
larger  animal  had  died  from  a  bite.  I  saw  a  single  in- 
stance oCa  snake-bite,  and  that  was  a  horse  struck  in  the 
fetlock.  The  swelling,  which  began  in  the  leg,  extended 
up  into  the  shoulder  and  chest  and  lower  part  of  the 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  51 

neck,  on  one  *side.  The  horse  was  left  behind,  and  for 
over  a  week  was  very  sick  ;  he  could  not  follow  the  herd, 
nor  had  he  strength  to  come  down  to  water,  but  after 
that  time  he  recovered,  and  a'month  later  I  saw  him  rid- 
den. It  is  said,  however,  that  the  animal  bitten  never 
completely  recovers  its  former  vigor.  The  dangers  of 
a  rattlesnake  bite  must  be  small,  as  no  remedies  are 
carried  about  to  meet  such  an  accident ;  the  medicine 
reccommended  being  the  universal  one  of  whiskey  in- 
side, tobacco  outside.  There  is  not  much  game.  We 
see  antelope,  who  are  simple-looking  animals  till  dis- 
turbed, when  they  erect  and  spread  out  a  brilliant,  white, 
fanlike  tail,  behind  which  the  animal  disappears,  all  but 
horns  and  legs  ;  he  goes  off  with  great  bounds.  We  get 
a  few  ;  the  meat  is  very  good.  There  are  plenty  of 
jack-rabbits  as  big  as  English  hares,  and,  to  my  mind, 
better  in  the  pot.  Sage-hens  might  have  been  easily 
shot,  but  their  flesh  is  said  to  be  tough  and  ill-flavored  ; 
they  were  not  at  all  wild,  and  ran  through  the  bushes 
with  their  brood  just  out  of  reach.  The  old  hen  is  a 
very  courageous  bird,  and  defends  itself  against  other 
animals  rather  than  take  flight.  Perhaps  due  to  the 
immunity  from  appearing  at  table,  and  therefore  not 
often  troubled,  it  apparently  does  not  fear  man.  One 
of  the  party  tried  to  knock  over  a  chicken  out  of  a  covey 
which  were  running  through  the  bush.  After  several 
shots  he  winged  one  of  the  young  ones,  which  began  to 
scream  ;  the  old  bird  rose  in  the  air  and  boldly  attacked 
the  hunter,  who  could  only  keep  her  off  by  shouting  and 
waving  his  revolver  in  front  of  his  face.  Higher  up  in 
the  mountains  you  might  find  prairie-chickens  and  deer, 


52  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

but  to  reach  them  would  be  more  than  a  day's  trip  from 
camp.  One  old  buffalo  is  ridden  and  killed  ;  his  meat, 
even  as  an  alternative  to  bacon,  does  not  go  down. 

The  man  brought  up  in  civilized  ways  at  first  finds 
himself  puzzled  in  these  uninhabited  prairies.  You 
start  out  in  company  with  some  one  else,  and  take  no 
notice  of  the  direction  travelled  ;  besides,  in  going  out- 
ward and  coming  homewards,  objects  of  course  will 
look  quite  differently.  After  getting  out  some  miles, 
you  may  separate  and  each  take  a  round,  one  bearing 
right,  the  other  left.  You  are  riding  across  country, 
and  have  often  to  diverge  to  avoid  unnecessarily  climb- 
ing a  hill,  or  to  seek  a  ford  ;  if  quite  unaccustomed  to 
prairie  ways,  you  soon  are  troubled  by  a  nervous  feel- 
ing of  being  turned  round,  and  when  new  to  that  bit  of 
country,  not  knowing  the  principal  features,  you  are 
easily  in  doubt  as  to  your  road.  You  must  not  get  lost, 
for  it  depends  on  yourself  alone  to  find  your  way  back, 
where  your  little  adventure,  if  guessed,  will  be  greeted 
by  a  hearty  laugh  at  the  tenderfoot.  The  Western  man, 
like  the  Red  Indian  or  the  wild  animals,  somehow 
always  knows  where  he  is,  and  has  a  map  of  the  country 
in  his  head.  There  are  many  stories  of  guides,  or  other 
frontier  men,  starting  off  across  two  or  three  hundred 
miles  of  unexplored  country,  to  reach  some  other  trail 
which  lies — out  there  ;  and  this  with  probably  only  the 
most  slender  outfit  to  just  last  the  time,  on  the  narrow- 
est scale,  if  all  goes  well.  Add  the  chances  of  a  difficult 
range  of  mountains,  deep  rivers,  with  the  possibility  of 
Indians,  and  one  cannot  but  admire  the  self-reliance  and 
courage  of  these  men,  which  can  only  be  partially 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  53 

appreciated  until  a  visit  has  been  paid  to  these  silent 
prairies.  Anyhow  it  is  a  peculiar  display  of  those  quali- 
ties which  must  die  out  for  want  of  use,  so  soon  as  the 
vast  uninhabited  areas  are  by  degrees  dotted  with  habi- 
tations. While  out  in  camp  one  is  cut  off  from  the 
world.  With  elaborate  arrangements,  you  may  be  able 
to  receive  letters  at  various  small  post-offices,  once  a 
month  ;  your  letters  to  the  world  may  be  sent  oftener 
by  the  hand  of  some  passer-by  ;  but  besides  the  disincli- 
nation to  write  in  camp,  due  to  a  brain  dulled  by  want 
of  employment,  and  to  the  discomfort  of  scribing  with- 
out tables  or  chairs,  there  is  a  feeling  that  you  are  not 
of  the  world,  and  your  daily  doings  are  not  likely  to 
interest  it.  Whoever  is  sent  as  messenger  in  to  a  store 
or  town  is  bound  to  bring  out  some  newspapers  ;  and 
after  the  gap  of  a  month  you  are  startled  with  the  con- 
clusion of  some  event  which,  in  the  language  of  the 
broadsheet,  shook  the  world,  but  of  which  no  tremulous 
feeling  reached  the  little  camp  in  the  dell. 

The  remoteness  of  other  humans,  and  the  charmed 
solitude  of  your  temporary  home,  wraps  you  in  selfish- 
ness ;  you  are  glad  of  your  isolation.  Everything 
around  you  is  beautiful.  Far  off  the  ranges  lie  one  be- 
hind the  other  in  fading  tints  of  gray  and  blue  ;  half- 
way the  broken  ground  of  the  bad  lands  assume  fantas- 
tic semblances  of  long  lines  of  walls  and  towers  ;  the 
red  stone  exposed  in  the  steep  scarps,  glowing  in  the 
bright  sun,  is  banded  by  sharply  cut  black  shadows  ; 
one  bright  green  patch  shows  where  the  creek  spills  its 
water  in  the  spring,  which  has  given  birth  to  some  acres 
of  meadow.  The  whole  land  is  silent,  desert,  and  a  bit 


54  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

mournful  ;  it  seems  to  be  slumbering  in  the  haze,  a  long 
sleep  which  began  at  the  creation,  and  is  waiting  for  a 
call  to  life.  The  nearer  hillsides  are  colored  by  acres 
of  lupin  and  sunflowers,  and  all  over  the  valley  there 
are  various  flowers,  brilliant  but  odorless  ;  higher  up  in 
the  hills  are  wild  roses,  wild  currants,  and  gooseberries  ; 
the  latter  are  particularly  good,  and  will  temporarily 
sweeten  a  life  supported  too  exclusively  on  the  dry 
fare  of  the  prairie.  The  grass  is  rich  and  thick.  The 
cattle  having  retired  up  here,  out  of  reach  of  mosquitoes, 
are  happy  all  the  day  long;  they  eat  in  the  cool,  and  lie 
down  in  the  warm  sunshine  ;  look  after  the  calves,  and 
grow  fat  as  seals  :  if  only  they  are  not  endowed  with 
knowledge,  and  cannot  anticipate  the  visit  to  Chicago, 
from  which  there  is  no  return,  or  the  bleak  winter,  with 
its  short  rations  and  piercing  storms.  The  life  of  the 
cows  is  not  all  peaceful  ;  reasonable  family  happiness 
includes  a  changeable  amount  of  quarrelling;  and  though 
the  bulls  generally  live  apart  and  in  harmony,  there  must 
be  some  rows.  A  peculiarity  was  connected  with  these 
events,  that  the  business  seemed  to  be  adjusted  at  cer- 
tain fixed  spots,  a  flat  clear  place  being  selected  where 
an  assembly  was  constantly  seen  ;  here  the  strangest 
evolutions  'were  gone  through,  which,  watched  from  a 
distance,  it  was  impossible  to  understand.  It  may  have 
been  a  fight,  or  a  medicine  dance,  or  a  ceremony.  The 
steers  would  be  excited  by  the  first  appearance  of  a 
small  gathering,  and  scream  and  run  to  the  ground. 
Here  they  would  circle  round  the  centre  knot,  who,  by 
the  antics  of  pawing  up  dust  with  their  fore-feet,  were 
probably  bulls  about  to  settle  a  dispute  ;  the  cows 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  55 

would  stand  about  outside  and  graze  quietly  ;  dust 
would  rise  in  clouds.  After  a  little  time  the  hubbub 
would  quiet  down  ;  there  was  no  fight ;  perhaps  it  was  a 
meeting  of  the  house  where  personal  views  had  been  ex- 
changed, much  as  carried  out  in  the  parliaments  of  crows 
and  other  bipeds.  In  the  spring  the  cattle  sometimes 
get  hold  of  some  poisonous  weed  ;  this  is  said  to  be  the 
root  of  the  lupin,  which  is  one  of  the  first  plants  green, 
and  is  liable  to  be  snatched  up  by  a  greedy  cow.  The 
effect  is  to  make  the  animal  swell  enormously  ;  it  then 
becomes  giddy,  and  in  a  few  minutes,  if  not  relieved,  it 
dies.  The  only  remedy  ever  tried  is  a  stab  in  the  side, 
which,  in  the  one  case  I  saw  applied,  was  not  success- 
ful— the  cow  died. 

Our  camp  was  near  one  of  the  trails  which,  not  so 
many  years  ago,  was  the  only  road  into  Western  Mon- 
tana. The  middle  portions  of  the  Yellowstone  Valley 
were  the  last  country  in  the  Northwest  to  be  explored, 
and  had  then  been  penetrated  by  few,  a  wholesome 
regard  for  Indians,  Sioux,  Crows,  and  others,  deterring 
any  but  the  boldest  and  most  adventurous.  This  trail 
was  still  used  by  the  Crows,  who  came  down  to  visit  the 
Rapahoes,  Shoshones,  and  other  tribes,  on  a  reservation 
round  Fort  Washaki.  If  only  braves  in  the  company 
they  were  seldom  in  greater  numbers  than  four  to  six, 
but  they  were  always  disagreeable  visitors,  wanting  to  be 
fed,  but  too  idle  and  dignified  to  assist.  Their  know- 
ledge of  English  was  limited  to  one  or  two  coarse 
expressions,  which  are  jerked  out  with  a  malapropos 
highly  diverting.  As  a  rule  they  are  silent,  and  give  a 
grunt,  or  make  a  sign,  to  avoid  the  labor  of  speech.  It 


56  PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES. 

is  a  great  pity  that  nothing  can  be  done  to  save  their 
sign  language,  which  is  sufficiently  elaborate,  and  is 
capable  of  communicating  all  they  wish  to  say  or  learn 
in  their  simple  existence.  Two  Indians  will  converse 
for  hours  without  a  spoken  word,  and  tell  each  other  of 
the  events  which  occurred  during  the  lapse  of  time  since 
they  last  met.  Having  seen  Mongolians  in  the  Gobi 
desert,  I  could  not  help  noticing,  both  in  appearance  and 
habits,  so  far  as  their  outward  life  is  concerned,  a  num- 
ber of  small  resemblances  between  the  Red  -Indians  I 
came  across  and  the  Mongolians.  The  skin  of  the 
Indian  is  yellow,  but  when  abroad  he  covers  his  whole 
face  with  a  red  powder ;  it  is  said  to  prevent  sun-burn- 
ing. The  young  fellows  and  women  often  rouge  their 
cheeks  only.  The  Crows  are  a  tall  race,  given  to  brilliant 
blankets  and  Jim  Crow  head-dresses.  They  are  not  at 
present  troublesome ;  in  fact,  they  rather  look  to  the 
white  man  for  protection  against  some  of  the  nearer 
tribes,  who  rob  their  horses,  on  whom  they  have  not  the 
courage  to  retaliate. 

People  who  know  nothing  about  Indians  look  at  them 
at  first  with  curiosity,  which  soon  is  mixed  with  a  little 
contempt ;  but  those  who  have  had  much  to  do  with 
them  in  wars  dislike  their  presence,  and,  knowing  their 
habits,  are  often  nervous  and  apprehensive  of  treachery. 
It  would  be  a  meritorious  deed,  from  an  Indian  point  of 
view,  for  a  band  to  murder  a  single  white  man,  if  it 
could  be  done  with  perfect  safety  in  regard  to  their  own 
skins,  and  to  the  business  getting  known  to  the  agency, 
and  being  visited  upon  the  tribe.  Their  silent,  stealthy 
ways  always  look  suspicious  ;  and  if,  seated  round  the 


PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES.  57 

camp-fire  at  night,  you  hear  a  gruff  "  How  !  "  like  a  bark 
just  behind  your  back,  when  you  thought  no  one  within 
fifty  miles,  it  makes  the  party  jump.  A  red  man  has 
walked  silently  up,  and  is  now  standing  nearly  within  the 
circle.  Few  of  them  are  bashful,  so  he  asks  for  somethkig 
to  eat  at  once.  You  let  your  visitor  have  whatever  scraps 
were  left  over,  and  if  the  grouts  have  not  been  thrown 
out  of  the  pot,  water  is  poured  on,  and  the  liquid  set  to 
boil ;  this  second  decoction  of  the  berry,  much  resented 
by  the  tardy  cow-boy,  goes  by  the  name  of  Indian  coffee. 
While  the  Indian  is  thus  occupied,  the  party  are  canvass- 
ing the  possibility  of  his  having  come  in  as  a  spy,  the 
rest  of  his  tribesmen  being  concealed  not  far  away  ; 
what  devilment  they  are  up  to  ;  whether  they  will  run 
off  the  horses  in  the  morning,  or  rob  any  part  of  the  out- 
fit while  we  are  sleeping.  It  is,  however,  of  little  use  our 
troubling  ourselves  in  anticipation.  Our  horses  could 
not  be  found  in  the  dark  ;  we  cannot  discover  anything 
of  the  Indians'  numbers  or  intentions  before  daylight. 
When  morning  comes,  it  is  generally  all  right ;  the 
Indian  is  alone.  Having  breakfasted,  he  tells  us  that  he 
will  be  travelling  south  five  days  ;  that  is,  he  points  in 
the  direction  and  says,  "  Five  sleep  ";  he  shows,  with  his 
right  hand  passing  thrice  over  the  back  of  the  left, 
which  is  held  knuckle  upwards  in  the  shape  of  a  hill, 
that  he  has  to  cross  three  ranges  ;  at  the  end  he  will 
camp,  which  he  denotes  by  closing  his  fist,  and  making  a 
jerk  downwards  as  if  pushing  in  a  peg.  We  speed  the 
departing  guest,  and  return  to  business  better  satisfied 
for  his  going.  The  possibility  of  the  Indian  being  con- 
verted to  any  civilized  or  useful  purposes  is  a  chimera  ; 


$8  PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES. 

he  will  be  a  wild  man,  or  he  will  die  out ;  his  inherited 
disposition  will  prevent  his  ever  being  a  satisfactory 
member  of  a  settled  community.  On  the  frontier  a  good 
Indian  means  a  ''dead  Indian."  Whether  the  Indians 
have  deserved,  or  brought  on  themselves,  the  injuries 
they  have  suffered,  and  to  what  extent  their  treatment 
might  have  been  ameliorated  by  honesty  in  the  agents 
employed  by  the  Government,  and  by  a  more  humani- 
tarian spirit  in  the  people  who  have  ousted  them,  can 
matter  little  at  present.  The  Indian  must  go,  is  going, 
and  will  soon  be  gone.  It  is  his  luck. 

About  the  middle  of  July,  it  was  time  to  leave  our 
summer  quarters,  and  make  for  the  Yellowstone  country. 
The  trail  we  were  following  certainly  deserved  no  better 
name  ;  there  were  tracks  of  other  wagons  having  gone 
by  that  route,  but  it  was  uncommonly  rough  work.  The 
way  down  from  the  summit  was  along  the  backbone  of 
a  long  ridge,  so  narrow  at  top,  with  sides  shelving  down 
so  steeply,  that  from  a  high  driving-seat  in  places  you 
could  [look  into  [the  bottom  of  a  valley  on  either  side, 
without  much  appearance  of  the  intermediate  ground. 
After  the  first  descent  of  the  mountain-sides  by  large, 
bold  slopes,  the  foot-hills  consisted  of  a  network  of 
small  ridges  and  valleys,  without  trees  or  grass  apparent. 
Looking  down  on  this  chaos,  the  tops  of  the  broken 
ground  seemed  all  one  level  ;  there  was  not  a  feature  of 
any  salience.  To  cross  it  would  be  a  constant  up  and 
down,  without  shade,  shelter,  or  water.  If  there  were 
cattle  or  wild  animals  in  these  sterile  regions  we  could 
not  see  them  ;  probably  there  were  not  any  ;  and  that  it 
is  one  of  the  pieces  of  country  which  will  not  come  into 


PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES.  59 

use  without  the  machinery  of  a  subsidence  or  an  up- 
heaval. The  Wind  River,  after  leaving  the  Shoshone 
reservation,  enters  a  canyon,  and  comes  out  under  the 
new  name  of  the  Big  Horn  ;  it  passes  through  another 
canyon  before  it  joins  the  Yellowstone.  The  ford  is  not 
far  below  the  first  passage.  In  July  the  water  is  not 
very  deep,  but  much  before  that  month  the  river  is  not 
passable  by  carriages;  not  that  there  is  much  of  that 
kind  of  traffic  except  the  cook's  wagons,  which  follow 
the  round-up.  While  halted  on  the  banks  a  band  of 
cattle  were  about  to  cross.  These  had  been  a  day  with- 
out sufficient  water;  therefore,  so  soon  as  they  were 
aware  of  the  river,  they  began  to  step  out.  The  leaders, 
long-legged  and  stout  steers,  got  away  and  travelled  in 
splendid  form;  the  smell  of  the  water  sent  them  bellow- 
ing; the  dust  of  some  two  thousand  animals,  following 
in  a  long  file  along  the  trail  in  a  parched  country,  formed 
a  rolling,  heavy  cloud  in  which  at  a  little  distance 
the  cattle  were  themselves  concealed.  The  leaders  of 
the  herd  were  getting  close;  they  disregarded  the  house 
and  our  small  party  on  foot,  intent  only  on  reaching  the 
water.  Their  necks  are  outstretched  and  mouths  open 
with  continual  bawling.  It  looks  like  a  walking  race; 
they  shuffle  along  with  the  most  busy  determination, 
careless  of  aught  but  the  getting  over  the  ground.  One 
steer  steps  out  of  the  line,  looks  back,  and  gives  a  long 
bellow,  as  if  for  one  moment  he  remembered  his  chum 
left  behind;  but  he  turns  again  still  more  quickly,  re- 
joins the  line,  and  travels  to  make  up  time.  At  last  they 
reach  the  river-bank,  which  is  not  very  high  and  has 
been  sloped  by  the  hoofs  of  former  herds.  They  rush 


60  PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES. 

right  in  till  the  water  is  half-way  up  their  sides,  and 
then  settle  down  to  enjoyment.  The  remainder  follow 
quickly.  All  go  in,  drink,  wallow,  and  stand  round;  a 
few  climb  out  on  the  further  bank,  full  of  water,  content, 
and  too  heavy  to  wander.  The  last  division  comes  up, 
of  cows  with  young  calves;  a  troublesome  lot,  always 
trying  to  stop  or  to  get  back,  who  tax  all  the  patience 
and  energy  of  the  boys  left  in  rear  to  bring  them  along 
and  compel  them  to  rejoin  the  herd  each  night.  These 
last  are  driven  into  the  water,  and,  when  all  have  had 
enough,  the  herd  is  taken  out  and  collected  on  the  far 
bank. 

The  wagon  having  completely  smashed  up  as  a  con- 
sequence of  the  three  days'  journey  down  the  mountains, 
a  selection  of  properties  has  to  be  made  and  luggage 
has  to  be  reduced  to  smallest  limits;  it  is  packed  on 
horses,  and  we  go  forward  much  less  encumbered  and  at 
a  considerably  better  pace.  Except  for  its  novelty 
the  country  in  the  Big  Horn  valley  is  not  interesting; 
the  river  bottom  is  filled  with  thick  timber,  but  on  the 
low  hills  there  are  nothing  but  scrub-bushes.  A  few 
buffaloes  had  wandered  into  these  regions;  they  were 
generally  two  or  three  together  and  rather  wild.  They 
gallop  with  a  clumsy,  lumbering  gait,  as  if  too  heavy  in 
front;  the  head,  carried  low,  nods,  and  the  shaggy  fringes 
of  hair  on  the  fore-arm  flop  with  each  stride;  they  are 
at  their  best  over  broken  ground,  and  drop  and  disap- 
pear into  a  deep  ravine  as  if  through  a  trap-door.  We 
found  water  every  ten  miles  or  so,  and  the  horses  jog- 
ging along  under  the  burning  sun  would  be  glad  of 
these  chances.  The  troubles  of  saddling,  arranging  the 


PRAIRIE  'EXPERIENCES.  6l 

kit,  lashing,  tightening,  keeping  a  continual  watch  on 
the  loads  to  anticipate  a  turn-over,  to  catch  the  horse 
whose  pack  is  tottering,  and  either  take  in  the  slack  or 
do  the  lashing  over  again — these  are  the  hourly  interests 
in  travelling  with  pack-animals.  The  horses  run  loose, 
and  are  driven  in  front;  they  learn  to  keep  the  trail.  If 
they  break  out  to  one  side  they  must  be  turned  in  again. 
After  the  first  half-hour  all  the  ropes  must  be  over- 
hauled. One  man  heads  and  halts  the  herd;  they  at 
once  split  up,  wander  apart,  and  feed.  You  must  dis- 
mount and  catch  them  one  by  one,  to  secure  their  loads; 
but  many  of  the  horses  object  to  being  caught,  dodge 
us  on  foot,  and  run.  If  there  is  a  third  man  he  remains 
mounted  and  turns  the  fugitive;  but  if  possible  it  is  best 
to  avoid  exciting  the  pack-horses,  for  when  they  gallop 
the  load,  if  somewhat  loose,  falls  to  pieces;  the  saddle 
perhaps  slips  and  the  horse  finds  sixty  or  seventy  pounds, 
weight  of  blankets,  grub,  etc.,  under  his  belly,  with  a 
tin  pot  rattling  about  his  legs.  This  is  too  much  for 
his  nerves — a  few  good  kicks,  and  he  is  rid  of  the  whole; 
jumping  clear  of  the  tangle  of  rope,  he  is  a  free  horse, 
and  leaves  scattered  on  the  prairie  the  contents  of  his 
pack.  Before  he  can  be  loaded  again  he  has  to  be 
caught,  which  means  a  deal  of  galloping  among  the 
ordinary  experts  at  lassoing.  By  the  time  the  saddle 
and  pack  are  restored,  three-quarters  of  an  hour  have 
been  wasted.  Viewing  the  trouble  of  loading,  the  daily 
journey  is  done  at  one  stretch.  Arrived  at  the  halting- 
ground  the  ropes  are  thrown  off,  the  bundles  taken 
down,  the  saddles  ungirthed,  and  the  horses  turned 
loose  to  roll,  drink,  and  feed.  Only  one  horse  is  kept 
tethered. 


62  PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES. 

Some  travellers  tether  all  their  horses  ;  but  this  re- 
quires very  good  feed  and  clear  ground,  otherwise  the 
horse  starves,  either  from  scarcity  of  grass  within  reach, 
or  by  catching  his  rope  in  the  bushes  he  is  reduced  to 
the  circumference  of  a  few  feet.  Many  horses  will 
start  off  by  this  manoeuvre  :  they  walk  round  and  round 
the  first  stem  the  rope  catches  against  ;  having  thus 
wound  themselves  up  till  their  noses  are  in  the  bush 
without  a  chance  of  anything  to  eat,  they  remain  thus 
foolishly  prisoners  until  relieved.  To  hobble  the  horse 
is  an  intermediate  plan,  which  also  requires  the  feed  to 
be  tolerably  thick.  The  hobble  is  a  leather  strap  which 
joins  the  two  fore-fee't.  If  not  holding  them  very  closely 
together,  the  horse  has  sufficient  freedom  ;  he  can  in- 
deed, if  he  wishes,  get  away  a  good  distance.  The 
objection  to  hobbling  is  that  the  horse  may  be  thrown 
and  injured,  and  if  grass  is  scarce  he  does  not  get  so 
much  to  eat  as  if  entirely  at  liberty.  A  loose  rope  is 
sometimes  left  hanging  to  the  necks  of  one  or  two  ;  this 
leaves  a  good  trail  to  follow,  and  checks  their  wandering 
somewhat ;  but  it  also  has  the  disadvantage  of  holding 
in  the  brush,  when  the  horse  may  starve,  or  the  hind- 
foot  may  catch  in  the  loop  round  the  neck  when  the 
horse  scratches  himself.  To  meet  this  the  noose  is 
often  not  checked  by  any  knot,  so  that  it  will  give  ;  but 
then  it  may  also  draw  tight  and  throttle.  The  best  plan 
is  to  turn  the  horses  quite  free  to  go  where  they  like  and 
forage  for  themselves.  In  this  way  they  will  get  most 
rest,  the  best  feed,  and  remain  in  the  best  condition  for 
work.  The  band  also  hangs  together,  and  sometimes 
are  so  far  well  trained  that  they  will  not  stray  a  great 
distance  from  camp  ;  but  with  the  usual  half-wild  horses 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  63 

there  is  no  certainty, — they  must  be  watched,  and  if  they 
have  already  wandered  far  they  may  be  driven  back  to 
near  camp  just  at  dusk.  This  is  rarely  of  use,  for  so 
soon  as  they  are  left  the  horses  are  apt  to  turn  and  go 
straight  back  to  the  place  they  have  fancied.  There 
are  often  in  a  band  one  or  two  inveterate  strayers,  who 
will  lead  all  the  others  off.  Some  recollection  of  grass  or 
water  at  a  former  camp,  or  an  idea  of  returning  to  the 
home-range,  or  some  other  pernicious  idea,  gets  into 
their  brain  ;  they  set  their  heads  in  the  direction  and 
travel  ;  not  at  any  great  pace,  but  quietly  foraging  and 
walking.  By  morning  they  are  ten  to  fifteen  miles 
away ;  in  this  disposition  should  they  strike  a  trail  they 
will  follow  it,  one  after  the  other,  with  little  thought  of 
feeding,  as  if  they  had  travel  on  the  brain  ;  no  doubt  ac- 
complishing a  fancied  duty  or  falling  into  an  old  habit. 

Before  dawn,  the  man  who  has  to  hunt  the  horses 
must  get  up  and  saddle  the  one  which  has  been  picketed  ; 
he  rouses  the  cook  when  starting,  but  leaves  the  others 
snugly  rolled  up  in  their  blankets.  Riding  in  the 
direction  where  the  herd  was  seeii  the  night  before,  he 
takes  up  their  trail  and  follows  that  till  he  finds  the 
herd.  They  seldom  have  gone  further  than  a  mile  or 
two  away,  if  feeding  properly.  A  hazy  morning,  or 
rolling  country,  makes  it  a  little  more  difficult  to  find 
the  herd.  The  safest  plan  is  to  stick  to  the  tracks  ;  if 
one  or  two  of  the  horses  are  shod,  their  footmarks  are 
plainer,  and  satisfy  you  when  you  see  them  that  you  are 
not  following  the  trail  of  a  strange  band  of  range-horses. 
The  horse  you  are  riding  will  often  catch  the  scent  of 
his  fellows  before  you  see  them  yourself,  and  lead 
you  right  up  to  the  herd  feeding  in  some  sheltered 


64  PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES. 

hollow.  You  count  them,  get  behind  them,  and,  with 
a  hollow,  start  them  at  a  trot  towards  camp.  They 
know  very  well  what  is  required,  and,  if  held  together  in 
a  single  mob,  will  not  try  to  feed,  but  jog  quietly  along. 
Now  and  again  one  will  free  himself  from  the  ruck  ;  you 
will  find  that  your  mount  will  go  straight  for  him.  A 
knowing  horse  will  do  the  driving  entirely  by  himself 
with  little  directing.  On  nearing  camp  the  men  there 
have  made  a  corral  by  tying  two  long  ropes  to  a  tree  ;  a 
man  at  the  end  of  each  holds  the  rope  taut,  and  into  this 
V  the  herd  is  driven  ;  the  man  on  horseback  watching 
the  mouth,  the  men  on  the  rope  checking  by  a  jerk  any 
attempt  to  break  out  at  the  sides.  The  horses  required 
for  riding  or  packing  are  caught  up  and  tied,  the  others 
are  let  go  to  find  feed  about  until  time  to  start.  If 
travelling  alone,  with  only  one  or  two  pack-horses,  they 
are  often  led  instead  of  being  driven  in  front.  This  is 
not  so  convenient  for  watching  the  loads,  but  has  to  be 
done  if  the  horses  have  not  been  accustomed  to  follow  a 
trail  of  themselves  ;  otherwise  they  would  continually 
diverge,  and  have  to  "be  driven  back,  which  would  lead 
to  galloping  and  overturning  of  loads.  With  two  or 
three  men  it  is  better  to  drive.  But,  after  all,  packing 
takes  from  the  pleasure  of  your  trip  ;  it  should  only  be 
practised  where  no  fashion  of  wheeled  vehicle  could 
possibly  come  through.  Except  high  up  in  the  moun- 
tains there  are  not  many  such  places  to  be  found.  A 
tough  wagon,  a  moderate  load,  four  good  horses,  and  a 
skilled  driver  seem  to  be  able  in  the  West  to  go  any- 
where, or  to  get  round,  which  amounts  to  the  same. 

After  several  days'  travel  we  reached  Clark's  Fork, 
and  took  up  our  abode  on  the  slope  of  the  mountains. 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  65 

On  the  further  side  these  mountains  flank  the  eastern 
limits  of  the  Yellowstone  Park.  There  are  two  ways 
of  entering  this  from  the  east:  one  directly,  a  trail  by 
which  General  Sheridan's  party  came  out.  The  other 
route  goes  a  good  deal  south.  Once  in  camp,  a  tough 
job  stares  me  in  the  face — that  is,  to  wash  my  clothes. 
It  is  a  struggle  to  keep  a  small  quantity  of  water  hot; 
the  only  tub  is  a  box,  which  should  not  leak.  A  few 
under-garments  of  flannel  occupied  me  a  long  day;  for, 
after  washing,  the  articles  were  so  full  of  soap  that  no 
amount  of  rinsing  seemed  to  take  out  the  clammy  feel. 
The  soap  used  in  the  West  is  a  strong  chemical  one,  ad- 
mirable in  washing  up  tin-plates  and  greasy  dishes,  but 
I  was  afraid  of  what  might  result  to  my  skin  if  I  dried 
the  garments  and  wore  them.  Warm  water  having 
played  out,  I  dipped  and  wrung,  and  dipped  again  in  cold 
water  till  my  hands  and  arms  were  numb.  My  coat  was 
off  for  better  exertion,  and  the  wind  blew  chill  through 
my  shirt.  Hopeless  of  success,  I  give  up  work,  lay  the 
clothes  in  the  stream,  fix  them  with  stones,  and  leave 
them  till  next  morning.  An  aching  back  checked  any 
notion  of  further  washing,  so  the  bushes  are  festooned 
with  articles,  gray  and  white,  where  they  are  left  to  dry, 
and,  what  was  not  necessary — contract.  One  or  two 
washings  satisfied  me  that  it  was  not  my  line,  and  in 
future  I  eke  out  my  wardrobe,  if  possible,  to  reach  some 
village  where  a  Chinaman  was  to  be  found.  These  fel- 
lows cheat  you  horribly;  scamp  the  work,  and  charge 
you  at  the  rate  of  four  shillings  for  six  or  eight  pieces; 
but  even  their  most  inferior  and  overpaid  work  is  pref- 
erable to  the  best  results  of  one's  own  exertions. 

The  climate  and  scenery  were  superb;  on  the  mountain- 


66  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

sides  miles  of  forest,  dreadfully  ravaged  in  places  by 
fire;  at  the  foot  miles  of  grazing.  At  this  time  ail  quite 
unoccupied,  as  we  are  on  the  edge  of  the  Crow  Reser- 
vation; the  only  way  for  a  white  man  to  settle  in  an  In- 
dian reservation  is  by  marrying  an  Indian  wife.  This, 
from  all  accounts,  is  a  one-sided  affair.  The  squaw-man, 
as  he  is  called,  always  looks  ashamed  of  his  weakness. 
He  is  very  much  married;  she  can  be  divorced  by  Indian 
law  with  great  facility.  His  friends  are  ashamed  of  and 
avoid  him;  her  friends  and  relations  come  and  live  with 
her  and  on  him.  On  separation  the  property  is  hers. 
He  has  nothing.  What  then  attracts  .  a  man  into  this 
connubial  state  ?  It  is  hard  to  say.  Probably  an  idje, 
vagabond  life  of  trapping  has  led  to  continual  associa- 
tion with  a  tribe  and  a  tolerance  of  their  squalid  and 
dirty  habits.  The  memory  of  a  better  condition  fades, 
and  after  a  time  an  uneasy  dread  of  returning  to  old 
associations  drives  him  into  braving  the  alternative. 
There  are  plenty  of  good  streams  flowing  out  of  these 
mountains,  in  which  trout  of  all  sizes  and  grayling  are 
caught,  the  ordinary  bait  being  a  grasshopper.  Not 
much  skill  is  required,  and  anybody  can  land  a  dozen  or 
twenty  of  about  one  to  two  pounds  in  weight,  in  a  few 
hours'  fishing.  Where  a  stream  has  not  been  troubled 
as  many  may  be  caught  in  an  hour.  They  will  rise  to  an 
artificial  fly,  but  the  grasshopper  is  more  certain,  and 
when  fishing  for  the  pot  the  latter  is  preferable.  The 
rod  is  often  a  willow,  cut  on  the  spot;  the  line  a  thin 
twine  tied  to  a  hook.  Notwithstanding  the  uneducated 
simplicity  and  greediness  of  the  trout,  skill  has  much  to 
say  in  filling  the  basket.  One  man  after  reaching  camp  in 
the  evening  will  bring  in  enough  for  supper;  the  rest  of 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  67 

the  Waltonians  not  catching  more  than  a  fish  apiece. 
One  thing  sure — we  can  all  eat  them.  There  are  some 
pink-fleshed,  some  of  a  more  yellow  tinge,  and  many 
white.  The  small  dark-skinned  brook-trout  are  par- 
ticularly good;  they  are  picked  out  of  the  pan  with 
unconcealed  selfishness.  The  bigger  ones  follow;  they 
are  all  good  enough  to  people  who  have  not  tasted  fish 
for  six  months.  I  am  ashamed  to  think  of  the  numbers 
fried  and  set  down  for  our  meal,  and  which  I  helped  to 
make  disappear. 

Having  a  little  time  to  spare,  I  made  a  trip  round  by 
Prior's  Mountain,  and  through  Prior's  Gap.  This  pass 
is  from  a  quarter  to  half  a  mile  broad,  and  about  ten 
miles  long;  it  is  on  the  road  from  Stinking  Water  to  the 
Yellowstone.  The  sides  are  granite  crags  boldly  scarped, 
which  shut  in  the  pass  on  either  side;  a  stream  runs 
through  a  great  portion  of  it,  and  the  bottom  is  splendid 
grass.  The  rocks  are  of  very  rugged  outlines.  A  road 
will  probably  run  through  this  gap  hereafter;  it  will  cer- 
tainly be  one  of  the  most  picturesque  in  this  part  of  the 
country.  After  coming  out  of  the  gap,  we  follow  down  the 
creek,  which  we  are  loth  to  leave,  as  it  is  a  larder  of  most 
excellent  trout;  the  road  eventually  brings  us  to  the  Yel- 
lowstone at  Coulson.  This  is  a  little  place  which  made 
a  beginning  before  the  railway  was  started,  its  trade 
being  the  supply  of  food  to  the  emigrants  around,  and 
the  purchase  of  hides,  etc.  With  the  arrival  of  the 
N.  P.  Railway,  Coulson  was  at  once  smashed,  on  the 
traditional  system  of  these  railways.  Subsidized  by 
land  grants,  which,  if  anything  were  ever  made  known 
concerning  these  railways,  might  be  found  to  have  cov- 
ered the  first  cost  of  construction,  the  railways  may  in 


68  PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES 

this  way  be  said  to  have  been  constructed  at  the  expense 
of  the  nation;  in  return,  they  have  been  laid  out  with  the 
narrowest  ideas  as  to  suiting  public  convenience.  If 
including  a  large  town  in  their  scheme  which  cannot  be 
avoided,  the  railway  depot  is  located  at  a  mile  or  a  mile- 
and-a-half  from  its  main  streets;  the  intervening  land  is 
taken  up  by  the  company,  laid  out  in  building-plots,  and 
sold  to  speculators.  If  a  small  town  is  approached,  the 
railway  company  sets  up  a  rival  close  beside  it,  with  the 
intention  of  crushing  it.  They  erect  a  few  sheds,  and 
maintain  a  few  work-people;  the  land  round  is  laid  out  in 
streets,  the  railway  officials  call  it  after  the  name  of  some 
local  magnate,  and  a  fair  start  is  thus  given  to  Snooks- 
ville  or  Pogram  City.  Promises  are  made  that  a  round- 
house for  engines,  workshops,  etc.,  will  be  built;  a  hotel 
is  subsidized  by  one  or  two  trains  being  halted  for  pas- 
sengers' meals;  saloons  spring  up  to  meet  the  demand  of 
the  workmen  for  such  delights;  the  store  is  transferred 
from  the  earlier  rival  on  account  of  the  convenience  of 
being  near  the  goods-shed;  in  a  few  months  the  business 
is  done — the  railway  town  prevails.  In  this  way  Coul- 
son  had  diminished,  while  Billings  had  flourished  more 
like  a  gourd  in  a  night  than  a  green  bay-tree;  it  was  but 
three  months  old,  but  as  the  Americans  say  was  quite  a 
town.  Facing  the  railway,  on  one  side,  was  a  line  of 
plank  buildings — hotels,  stores,  and  saloons  galore,  with 
strange  names,  e.g.  the  Bank,  the  Exchange,  the  Pet,  the 
Cozy.  On  the  other  side  more  buildings  again,  mostly 
saloons,  are  being  run  up;  to  the  back  private  houses 
are  started,  of  no  great  size,  but  good  for  a  commence- 
ment. Billings  booms  !  Foolish  prices  are  quoted  for 
building-lots;  they  may  be  paid,  Banks  and  stores  dp 


PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES.  69 

some  business,  but  the  main  trade  of  the  town  is  at  the 
bars  of  the  saloons  or  at  the  tables  of  stud-poker.  Of 
all  kinds  of  hard  labor,  keeping  a  saloon  is  most  to  the 
taste  of  the  ordinary  citizen.  The  stock-in-trade  is 
small;  a  barrel  of  whiskey  and  popularity  are  the  essen- 
tials. The  saloon  may  be  a  single-roomed  pla^k  cabin, 
neatly  papered.  On  the  walls  may  hang  pictures  of 
Abraham  Lincoln  and  General  Garfield,  with  a  few  comic 
sporting  prints.  A  bar  runs  part  of  the  way  up  the 
room,  and  is  spotlessly  clean;  behind  this  counter  against 
the  wall  are  a  few  shelves  decorated  with  specimen-bot- 
tles of  wine,  spirits,  etc.;  underneath,  sugar,  lemons,  and 
ice,  if  these  luxuries  are  attainable;  a  stove,  three  or  four 
chairs,  a  bucket  of  water  with  a  dipper,  complete  the 
furniture.  The  saloon-keeper  is  always  tidily  dressed, 
appears  in  a  white  shirt,  his  sleeves  and  wristbands  pro- 
tected by  calico  cuffs;  his  cleanliness,  and  his  not  wear- 
ing a  hat,  at  once  separate  him  from  his  customers.  With 
these  he  must  maintain  pleasant  terms;  receive  and  re- 
tail news  social  and  political;  serve  them  when  they 
wish  to  drink;  scrupulously  wipe  dry  any  slops  on  the 
counter;  and  keep  the  stove  supplied  with  wood.  In 
these  he  fulfils  the  whole  duties  of  a  saloon-keeper.  He 
seldom  moves  out  of  doors  or  from  behind  his  bar,  un- 
less, indeed,  in  the  case  of  a  row,  and  the  boys  begin  to 
shoot.  It  is  wisest  then  to  withdraw  as  quickly  as  a 
happy  thought,  returning  to  the  daily  routine  when  mat- 
ters have  quieted  down,  or  to  prepare  for  the  rousing 
business  which  follows  with  the  coroner's  jury.  Land 
offices  offer  town-lots  in  Billings  at  all  prices,  and,  to 
farming  settlers,  quarter-sections  in  the  vicinity,  to  be 
irrigated  by  a  ditch,  which  will  be  led  out  of  the  Yellow- 


70  PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES. 

stone  twenty  miles  above  the  town.  So  long  as  the 
railway  keeps  Billings  as  its  terminus  it  continues  to  im- 
prove; but  when  the  railway  opens  out  another  length, 
the  prosperity  which  flows  from  the  expenditure  during 
its  construction  moves  off  again  to  the  new  terminus. 
The  railway  have  by  this  time  parted  with  their  interest 
in  the  land;  one  guesses  the  result.  Billings,  however, 
has  better  chances  than  other  small  bantlings  of  these 
railroads.  The  hotel  and  restaurant  are  wonderfully 
good,  considering.  The  first  is  crowded;  your  bed  is  a 
dollar;  meals,  75  cents  each;  50  cents  if  a  card  of 
twenty-one  are  taken, — not  too  dear.  You  are  fortunate 
in  getting  a  bed  to  yourself.  In  these  frontier  towns 
you  are  liable  to  be  told  off  to  share  a  bed  with  any 
stranger;  a  process  which  was  only  avoided  by  much 
manoeuvring,  and  by  accepting  in  a  spirit  of  content  any 
other  accommodation.  Stabling  your  two  horses  over 
the  way  costs  two-and-a-half  dollars,  as  much  as  your 
own  daily  bill;  all  goods  are  very  expensive,  except 
whiskey,  which  is  at  the  ordinary  price. 

The  effect  of  this  high  living  on  an  economy  trained 
to  lower  fare  is  disastrous;  in  two  days  I  am  feeling  so 
ill  that  I  pack  up  and  start  out  again  to  rejoin  camp. 
My  companions  for  the  next  few  days  are  two  hunters; 
one  a  Frenchman,  the  other  was  an  American,  and  rather 
typical  of  the  country  and  trade.  Judging  from  subse- 
quent experience,  I  should  say  that  the  profession  of 
trapper  or  hunter  no  longer  pays:  beavers  are  scarce  and 
buffaloes  dying  out;  their  skins  were  the  staple  products 
of  the  chase.  A  well-known  hunter  used  always  to  be 
able,  at  the  commencement  of  winter,  to  get  his  outfit 
and  food  advanced  to  him  by  any  storekeeper.  When 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  Jl 

he  brought  in  his  hides  in  the  spring  there  were  sure  to 
be  enough  to  clear  the  debt  and  leave  a  handsome  sur- 
plus. What  became  of  this  surplus  may  be  guessed, 
when  next  autumn  found  our  hero  broke  and  again  de- 
pending on  advances.  The  race  had  its  traditions.  To 
do  anything  with  money  but  spend  it  recklessly  was 
below  the  dignity  of  a  buffalo-hunter;  as  one  man  put 
it,  referring  to  the  saloon-keepers  and  gamblers,  who  are 
invariably  the  neatest  dressed  individuals  in  the  crowd, 
"Some  one  must  support  these  white-shirted  sons  of 

,  and  I  should  like  to  feel  that  I  had  done  my  share." 

My  American  was  very  shrewd,  and  had  evidently  talked 
much  on  the  inequalities  of  social  life  elsewhere  than  on 
the  prairie.  He  often  posed  questions  on  the  habits  of 
the  old  country,  which  I  could  not  always  answer  satis- 
factorily even  to  myself.  A  trick  these  Western  men 
have,  when  finding  fault  with  men's  ways  in  civilized 
places,  is  to  ignore  the  life  of  the  greater  mass  of  their 
own  countrymen,  and  to  illustrate  the  injustice  of  man 
to  man  by  the  practice  in  Europe,  naturally,  of  course, 
particularizing  England,  being  the  country  of  which 
they  have  read  most.  Can  a  man  in  your  country  put 
his  gun  on  his  shoulder  and  go  for  a  hunt?  Can  a  man 
homestead  160  acres?  No  !  A  Western  hunter  naturally 
considers  a  Government  which  does  not  supply  these 
outlets  to  the  industry  of  hunters  as  nothing  better  than 
a  despotism  of  the  upper  classes.  But  the  Americans  in 
the  East,  I  point  out,  cannot  shoot  over  their  neighbors' 
lands;  the  trout-streams  are  all  preserved;  and  if  a  man 
wants  a  farm  he  must  buy  it.  But  the  American  can 
always  come  West  and  settle,  is  his  satisfactory  reply; 
an  alternative  bound,  in  his  view,  to  last  all  time. 


72  PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES. 

Western  men  will  carefully  say  ladies,  in  speaking  of 
the  women  of  the  laboring  classes;  but  concerning  those 
of  better  education,  refinement,  and  circumstances, 
woman  is  good  enough;  it  is  not  a  matter  of  chivalry 
or  rudeness,  but  simply  self-assertion.  The  exclusion 
of  servants  from  the  use  of  the  ordinary  sitting-rooms 
seemed  also  to  be  a  wrong.  If  a  man  had  washed  his 
face  and  hands  there  was  nothing  inherently  defective 
which  would  unfit  him  from  sitting  at  table  with  any 
society.  As  to  servants,  when  the  day's  work  was  done, 
and  they  had  dressed  themselves,  why  should  they  not 
sit  in  the  same  room  with  their  masters  ?  It  could  do 
the  latter  no  harm;  whereas,  if  the  masters  were  superior, 
the  servants  might  derive  benefit  ^rom  their  companion- 
ship. Forasmuch  as  all  men  are  equal,  the  fact  of  one 
having  more  money  than  another  could  not  unfit  them 
for  each  others'  society.  On  this  occasion  I  must  have 
been  routed,  as  after  a  few  months'  life  in  the  West  my 
ideas  on  the  advantages  of  different  classes  and  social 
layers  had  been  lying  torpid,  and  were  undermined  by 
the  general  habits  of  equality,  which  were  in  no  way  irk- 
some among  men  who  lived  simply,  and  were  occupied 
entirely  in  the  open  air,  and  who  could  therefore  live 
together  without  the  close  contact  which  would  be  felt 
if  they  were  confined  within  the  limits  of  four  walls. 
We  remained  good  friends,  but  unconvinced,  and  so  kept 
our  arguments  for  further  discussion  and  mutual  im- 
provement. I  was  much  flattered  at  his  surprise,  when 
I  confessed  how  short  a  time  I  had  spent  in  the  country. 
My  advanced  knowledge  of  packing  was  the  quality 
which  most  recommended  me.  Unfortunately,  with  all 
our  talent,  there  was  no  game  to  practise  on;  the  moun- 


PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES.  ?3 

tains  were  full  of  elk,  bear,  deer,  etc.,  but  the  cold  had 
not  yet  driven  them  down.  In  the  valley  there  was 
nothing  except  antelope,  which  were  wild;  the  river, 
however,  had  plenty  of  good  trout,  though  it  was.  get- 
ting a  little  too  late  to  kill  them.  Having  just  left  a 
town,  our  larder  even  of  luxuries — potatoes  and  onions, 
I  don't  well  remember  anything  else — still  held  out;  we 
did  not  make  very  long  journeys,  and  the  weather  in 
October  was  all  it  should  be. 

While  travelling  south  of  the  Yellowstone,  we  had 
been  all  the  time  in  the  Crow  Reservation,  and  saw 
many  of  that  tribe,  generally  living  in  their  "  tipis  "  on 
the  banks  of  a  stream.  The  "tipis"  are  the  conical 
tents,  which  are  supported  on  a  bundle  of  light  poles 
held  together  by  a  lashing  above,  while  the  lower  ends 
are  stretched  out  to  leave  a  good  circular  space  within. 
The  covering  used  to  be  made  of  skins,  it  is  now  almost 
always  of  canvas.  The  cut  of  cloth  is  very  simple ; 
when  laid  flat  on  the  ground  the  covering  is  a  semi- 
circle. There  is  a  little  arrangement  by  which,  as 
erected,  a  sort  of  cowl  protects  the  orifice  at  the  top  and 
prevents  the  wind  blowing  the  smoke  back  into  the 
interior.  The  edge  is  held  down  with  pegs,  but  in 
ancient  days,  before  tools  were  invented  or  in  common 
use,  large  stones  were  laid  on  the  skirt — at  least  this  is 
the  explanation  of  circles  of  stone  which  are  often  found 
on  the  prairie  now  partially  buried.  It  is  a  very  com- 
modious and  comfortable  pattern  of  tent  ;  the  principal 
trouble  is  the  number  of  long  thin  poles.  In  travelling, 
these  are  tied  at  their  upper  end,  and  slung  over  the 
back  of  a  pony  ;  the  lower  ends  trail  on  the  ground,  and 
tell  very  plainly  of  the  passage  of  an  Indian  family. 


74  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

The  Indians  constantly  visited  our  camp,  and  were  very 
impudent  and  persistent  beggars  ;  our  main  dread  was 
lest  they  should  steal  cups,  or  knives,  or  articles  we 
could  not  easily  replace.  One  morning  we  missed  a 
bag  holding  all  our  tin-plate  ;  we  of  course  suspected  a 
batch  of  women,  who  had  held  out  by  the  camp-fire  over 
night  until  everything  had  been  washed  up  and  packed 
away.  By  signs  we  complained  to  the  chief,  and  pro- 
duced a  general  hubbub  in  their  encampment  of  dogs, 
children,  and  chattering  women.  Tne  chief,  to  assist 
us,  ordered  out  his  forces,  and  made  a  line  of  some 
ancient  and  smoke-grimed  crones ;  in  this  formation 
they  beat  the  bushes  round  our  camp  and  soon  found 
the  bag,  which  had  evidently  been  carried  out  of  camp 
by  a  dog  or  cayote,  who  had  been  attracted  by  a  piece 
of  jerked  meat  within.  Our  faces  were  accordingly 
covered  with  shame  for  our  wrongful  accusation,  and 
the  old  ladies  let  us  have  an  expression  of  their  views 
on  our  conduct.  We  immediately  distributed  biscuits 
and  coffee,  and  made  peace.  It  was  abominable  on  our 
part  to  suspect  them  ;  but  if  the  nobility  of  the  land  en- 
joy a  doubtful  character,  are  dirty,  unkempt,  bundled  in 
rags,  and  sit  round  your  camp-fire  chattering  after  you 
have  all  gone  to  bed,  the  suspicion  naturally  follows. 
They  are  themselves  apparently  careless  of  property, 
and  in  a  camping-ground  recently  occupied  by  Indians 
there  are  often  several  articles  of  dress  or  the  kitchen 
left  behind.  On  the  road  the  care  of  everything  is 
handed  over  to  the  women,  who  pack  the  tents  and  lug- 
gage on  the  miserable  ponies — mostly  thin,  a  few  crip- 
pled. It  is  a  great  sight  to  watch  the  outfit  strung  out 
on  the  trail.  During  cold  weather  the  very  old  woman 


PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES.  75 

in  the  family  will  be  wrapped  in  a  buffalo-robe,  which 
wrinkles  and  bulges  in  hard  angles,  making  her  look 
like  a  gray  rock  balanced  on  a  pony  ;  the  children  are 
well-folded  in  blankets  and  hold  on  in  pairs  or  singly  ; 
the  young  and  middle-aged  women  do  the  driving,  and 
keep  the  herd  together.  They  wear  striped  blankets, 
and  of  course  straddle  their  horses  ;  but  it  is  a  most  dis- 
orderly rabble — one  pony  here,  another  there ;  colts 
running  about  losing  their  mothers  by  staying  back,  and 
galloping  wildly  into  the  hind-quarters  of  two  or  three 
pack-ponies  before  they  tumble  into  the  right  place. 
The  pony  dragging  the  tent-poles  is  out  in  the  bushes 
by  himself,  fifty  yards  from  the  trail ;  he  will  probably 
brush  off  a  pole  or  two.  A  girl,  apparently  five  years 
old,  riding  a  beast  with  three  straight  legs  and  a  crooked 
one,  and  with  only  a  string-halter,  is  drumming  her 
little  feet  and  whacking  her  mount  with  a  willow  wand 
to  make  it  leave  the  road  to  hunt  in  this  stray.  Two 
little  mites  are  perched  together  on  a  mare,  which  stands 
still  to  let  its  foal  suck.  The  whole  crew  is  scattered 
along  a  quarter-mile  of  road  ;  at  the  tail  ride  leisurely 
the  two  women  who  bring  up  stragglers,  and  keep  the 
business  moving.  So  soon  as  they  are  near,  the  caval- 
cade closes  up,  trots  on  a  bit,  and  in  half  a  mile  are  scat- 
tered as  before.  But  where  is  the  brave  ?  He  knows 
of  some  encampment  off  the  road,  and  is  paying  a  visit, 
eating  bread,  meat,  and  drinking  coffee — a  duty  more 
to  his  taste  and  dignity  than  looking  after  squaws  and 
children.  The  Indians  look  contented,  and  I  suppose 
get  enough  to  eat ;  but  the  food  allowed  by  the  Govern- 
ment is  said  to  be  insufficient,  and  the  Indians  are  ex- 
pected to  supplement  it  by  hunting  for  themselves.  A 


76  PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES. 

number  may  always  be  seen  round  slaughter-houses  ; 
the  butchers  contemptuously  throw  the  guts  to  these 
poor  wretches,  who  seize  and  eat  them  raw  in  a  disgust- 
ing manner. 

On  return  to  camp  I  amuse  myself  for  a  few  days  in 
fishing,  and  then  join  the  boys,  who  are  taking  a  herd  of 
some  three  hundred  steers  to  the  railway  for  shipment  to 
Chicago.  There  was  no  particular  hurry,  and  though  the 
country  was  stony  the  grass  was  very  good.  The  herd 
might  travel  leisurely  northwards  and  add  flesh  as  they 
moved.  We  had  the  country  much  to  ourselves.  The 
weather  at  first  was  steady,  and  generally  bright ;  the 
cattle  lay  still  all  night,  and  were  found  together  in  the 
morning.  They  travelled  a  few  miles  every  day.  Water 
was  plentiful.  We  had  no  difficulty  in  camping  and  al- 
ways had  plenty  of  wood.  Matters  went  smoothly  and 
pleasantly  for  a  time  ;  but  when  a  change  of  weather  set 
in,  and  the  rain  was  accompanied  by  snow  and  severe  gusts 
of  wind,  the  cattle  commenced  to  break  up  and  to  look 
for  shelter,  wandering  off  a  good  distance,  so  that  each 
morning  the  count  was  short  and  the  strays  had  to  be 
hunted.  It  was  hard  work  for  the  men  and  the  horses  ; 
for,  once  started,  the  cow-boy  who  respects  his  character 
is  bound  to  stay  with  it  till  he  finds  the  cattle  he  is 
hunting.  The  pace  must  be  good,  as  the  quicker  you 
come  up  to  your  strays  the  less  distance  will  you  have 
to  bring  them  back.  The  same  cold  storms  that  troub- 
led us  harassed  the  wild  beasts  on  the  mountains,  and 
the  bears  came  down,  following  the  cover  which  fringed 
the  streams.  The  scent  of  the  bears  to  cattle  and  horses 
unaccustomed  to  such  neighbors  was  terrifying,  and 
both  began  to  show  a  strong  disinclination  to  go 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  77 

through  the  bushes  and  trees  to  water.  Our  most 
troublesome  customers  were  half-a-dozen  bulls.  They 
never  cared  about  keeping  with  the  herd,  and  each  day 
all  or  some  would  disappear,  generally  in  pairs,  choosing 
the  heaviest  cover  in  which  to  hide  themselves.  We 
had  no  tent,  but  managed  pretty  well.  Several  morn- 
ings I  found  the  canvas  cover,  which  I  had  pulled  over 
my  head,  cold  and  stiff.  Having  pushed  it  back  the 
scene  was  very  pretty — the  trees  and  ground  covered 
with  snow  and  hoar-frost  ;  but  it  did  not  look  inviting 
to  turn  out.  One  by  one  other  heads  would  appear, 
take  in  the  landscape,  and  not  like  it.  Then  the  cook 
made  his  effort,  and  having  started  a  fire  we  would 
creep  out  and  help  pile  on  the  logs — a  business  in  which 
the  laziest  will  learn  industry  ;  with  the  added  hope  of 
speeding  breakfast  on  a  frosty  morning.  Our  fire-wood 
was  generally  of  birch  trees,  which  had  been  water- 
logged, and  were  decayed  just  above  the  roots.  A  pull 
would  bring  down  a  bare  pole,  thirty  feet  high,  and 
with  very  little  trouble  in  chopping  one  collected  a  good 
pile  of  logs.  The  unfortunate  horse  which  had  to  re- 
main saddled  and  tethered  all  night  was  a  sorry  sight ; 
his  feet  drawn  together  like  a  goat ;  his  coat  staring, 
cold  to  the  marrow  of  his  bones.  How  cheering  the 
Sun  was  when  it  did  show  itself  !  The  party  distributed — 
some  to  look  up  cattle — two  to  catch  the  ponies  and 
pack  the  kit,  a  job  none  the  more  pleasant  with  ropes 
wet  and  frozen,  hard  to  put  on,  bound  to  stretch  loose. 

I  made  a  little  independent  trip  to  the  Agency,  partly 
to  visit  it,  and  in  part  to  buy  some  food.  The  place  was 
only  interesting  from  the  Indians  congregated  there  in 
sufficient  numbers  to  enable  one  to  get  a  sight  of  some 


78  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

of  their  ordinary  habits.  Their  "  tipis"  were  generally 
set  up  two  or  three  together,  the  interval  between  them 
being  sheltered  by  an  erection  of  poles  carrying  a  flat 
roof  of  branches  and  leaves.  Music  issued  out  of  one  of 
these  homes.  On  looking  I  saw  a  circle  of  some  thirty 
men  and  women — the  two  sexes  sitting  apart.  At  the 
side  furthest  from  the  doorway  sat  three  or  four  chiefs, 
with  strange  bundles  lying  in  front ;  two  men  facing 
them,  standing  in  the  middle  of  the  tent,  held  otter-skins 
in  their  hands,  and  were  dancing — or  rather  hopping — 
alternately  on  each  foot.  Men  were  singing,  drums 
beating;  and  a  skirl  from  the  women  came  in  at  regular 
intervals.  It  was  a  medicine  dance,  for  the  purpose  of 
increasing  the  virtue  of -the  chief's  medicine.  The  scene 
was  certainly  interesting ;  the  music,  though  monoto- 
nous, was  not  disagreeable.  The  only  other  ceremony  I 
had  seen  was  a  buffalo  dance,  performed  by  a  party 
setting  out  on  a  hunt.  A  charmed  circle  had  been 
erected  of  green  boughs,  and  within  this  a  dozen  braves, 
most  fantastically  dressed,  danced  round  the  enclosure 
to  the  accompaniment  of  a  drum.  It  was  hard  work, 
and  after  a  few  minutes  all  would  sit  down  and  take 
breath.  Some  of  the  actors  appeared  to  imitate  the 
motions  of  animais,  but  the  ceremonies  in  both  cases 
were  difficult  to  understand.  On  my  return  I  succeeded 
in  missing  the  trail,  and  had  to  camp  out  under  a  bush 
with  two  thin  horse-blankets  for  bedding.  I  made  a 
good  fire,  but  the  necessity  of  feeding  it  through  the 
night  rather  interrupted  sleep.  Both  horses  were  fright- 
ened by  bears  and  broke  away.  Next  morning  I  started 
early  on  foot  for  camp,  where  I  was  deservedly  laughed 
at  for  my  clumsiness.  But  I  got  breakfast,  which  is  a 


^PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  79 

comforter.  I  found  one  horse,  and  borrowing  another 
in  camp  went  back  for  the  luggage.  The  other  horse 
was  caught  the  same  evening  by  a  piece  of  good  luck  : 
I  was  to  have  sought  him  the  next  morning,  and  had  in- 
tended to  hunt  for  him  in  quite  the  opposite  direction  to 
which  he  was  found.  One  of  the  boys  had  shot  an  elk ; 
the  agent  had  presented  us  with  beef,  potatoes  and 
vegetables  ;  the  stream  was  full  of  trout ;  we  were  in 
clover.  We  started  for  Billings,  and  after  several  days' 
travel,  with  the  alternate  fortunes  of  losing  half  the 
cattle  or  losing  them  all  during  the  night,  the  boys 
thought  it  best  to  watch  them. 

In  this  way  all  were  virtually  brought  to  the  post. 
One  big  steer  was  bogged  in  a  quicksand,  and  could  not 
be  pulled  out  with  the  horses.  We  put  ropes  on  his 
horns  and  on  his  tail,  but  by  neither  extremity  would 
he  be  extricated;  an  Indian  offered  to  dig  him  out,  which 
he  did.  He  first  sent  to  his  home  for  assistance,  and 
three  old  women  came  down  on  a  pony.  They  made, 
with  long  grass  and  mud,  a  dam  round  the  steer,  and 
dug  him  out  till  nearly  free,  and  then  got  him  ashore; 
the  next  morning,  however,  they  cut  his  throat  to  pre- 
vent his  dying.  Another  steer,  in  falling,  knocked  off  a 
horn  ;  the  smell  of  the  blood  sent  the  whole  herd  wild, 
and  most  of  the  steers  occupied  themselves  in  hunting 
the  wounded  one  up  and  down  the  line  without  cessa- 
tion. A  donkey  with  her  colt  was  one  of  our  embarrass- 
ments; they  had  a  continual  foolish  desire  to  join  the 
steers.  Although  these  had  seen  the  pair  constantly, 
they  never  grew  reconciled  to  their  novel  advances,  and 
so  soon  as  the  four  long  black  ears  loomed  above  a  bank, 
up  jumped  the  herd  and  made  off,  A  vast  amount  of 


80  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

strong  language  was  hurled  at  the  offenders  ;  of  this 
they  recked  little;  while  to  drive  the  pair  away  was  not 
so  easy.  The  boys  on  horseback  had  nothing  handy  but 
a  short  whip  hung  on  the  wrist,  while  the  jinny  had  her 
heels,  and  was  expert  in  the  art  of  self-defence.  These 
pranks  of  the  steers  were  not  attention  to  business, 
which  would  have  rather  been  an  orderly  advance,  eat- 
ing grass,  drinking  water,  and  laying  on  fat;  but  the 
beasts  were  altogether  in  a  bad  frame  of  mind,  and  an- 
noyed us  by  bawling  and  snatching  the  heads  off  weeds 
and  brambles,  showing  they  were  discontented,  although 
in  the  midst  of  plenty.  It  is  curious  what  trifles  will 
disturb  the  cattle,  and  the  man  managing  a  drive  must 
always  be  considering  how  the  steers  will  be  least  dis- 
composed. The  horses'  manes  and  tails,  at  this  period, 
were  stuck  full  of  burrs;  the  forelock  thus  twisted  and 
knotted  became  a  solid  pad,  and  the  tail  moved  in  one 
lump.  One  horse  had  an  awkward  fall  while  galloping 
through  high  grass.  He  put  his  fore-leg  into  a  hole  left 
by  the  burnt-out  stump  of  a  tree,  which  had  smouldered 
down  to  its  roots,  leaving  a  cylindrical  pit,  about  a  foot 
wide  and  four  feet  deep.  The  rider  caught  under  his 
horse  in  such  an  accident  has  a  chance  of  serious  harm 
from  the  projecting  horn  of  the  saddle,  should  the  horse 
roll  or  flounder  much  in  struggling  to  his  feet.  These 
holes  are  very  common,  and,  as  they  are  difficult  to  see, 
a  man  on  foot  even  is  liable  to  an  ugly  fall  while  pushing 
his  way  through  the  jungle. 

After  fording  the  Yellowstone,  the  stock  were  put  on 
board  the  cars  and  sent  off  to  Chicago.  The  N.  P.  Rail- 
way was  not  in  very  good  order,  having  but  recently 
opened  to  traffic  a  great  portion  of  its  line.  We  met 


PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES.  8 1 

with  two  accidents.  In  one  three  cars  ran  off  the  road; 
the  first  was  turned  over  on  to  its  roof  and  burst  open. 
When  we  recovered  the  jerk,  and  looked  out,  six  steers 
were  on  the  horizon,  in  good  line,  nodding  their  heads, 
and  walking  with  the  best  foot  foremost;  they  had  had 
enough  of  the  game.  Another  time  we  collided  at  a 
cross-over,  and  the  guard's  caboose  had  the  end  knocked 
off;  there  may  have  been  minor  events,  but  they  were 
not  brought  to  our  notice.  I  should  think  that  the  loss 
in  damaged  rolling-stock  was  very  large  on  these  new 
lines.  A  considerable  part  might  be  prevented  by  a  little 
more  care  in  laying  the  way  before  it  is  opened  to  traffic; 
but  we  all  fancy  we  know  other  people's  business  better 
than  those  concerned.  In  the  West,  the  ruling  idea  is 
to  spend  the  least  time  and  capital.  The  American  does 
not  seem  to  care  about  a  work  being  finished.  The 
eaves  of  a  house  are  often  not  sawn  off  to  a  line,  or  the 
planks  on  a  bridge  are  left  jutting  out  on  both  sides  in 
a  ragged  edge.  "It's  good  enough;  it  don't  hurt  the 
bridge." 

After  six  or  seven  days'  travelling  we  reach  Chicago, 
and  turn  the  steers  into  the  stock-yard.  The  mass  of 
cattle,  sheep,  and  pigs  assembled  in  this  area  is  of  itself 
extraordinary;  the  buyers  ride  round,  have  a  few  words 
with  the  commission  agents,  and  the  business  is  con- 
cluded. By  means  of  gates  the  number  is  counted,  or  a 
selection  is  made  and  driven  to  the  scales;  for  the  price 
paid  is  so  much  per  pound.  This  scale  is  in  a  building, 
the  floor  a  weighing-platform,  to  hold,  I  think,  about 
200  head  of  large  cattle,  say,  running  about  1400  Ibs. 
each.  So  soon  as  they  are  all  on,  the  gates  are  closed, 
and  in  less  than  half-a-minute  the  weight  is  ascertained 


82  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

on  a  bar  in  an  adjoining  room.  This  is  recorded,  the 
front  gates  are  opened,  and  the  cattle  stream  out  eight 
or  ten  abreast.  Their  number  is  at  once  called  out  to 
the  clerk.  They  said  that  during  the  process  of  weigh- 
ing, which  altogether  occupies  but  very  few  minutes, 
the  man  inside  counts  the  herd  twice;  once  as  it  stands 
on  the  platform,  and  again  as  it  dashes  out  after  the 
gates  have  been  opened.  With  small  Texas  cattle,  the 
number  weighed  at  one  process  is  over  300,  and  with 
'sheep  and  pigs  twice  as  great  again.  I  can  only  answer 
for  the  cattle  being  counted,  though  I  have  no  doubt 
about  the  others.  To  be  able  to  count  so  many  was 
certainly  surprising,  for  I  have  seen  several  cattle-men 
discuss  for  five  minutes  whether  there  were  twenty  or 
twenty-one  head  in  a  pen,  nor  could  I  myself  ever  count 
that  number  twice  correctly. 

Going  in  search  of  a  hotel,  we  were  met  by  many 
touts;  it  was  amusing  to  find  one's-self  accosted  with  the 
patronizing  air  which  the  city  man  affects  towards  what 
he  considers  the  wild  man.  One  agent  was  most  perti- 
nacious, greeted  us  loftily  as  "boys,"  and  insisted  on 
our  giving  the  preference  to  his  lodging-house,  extolling 
its  comforts  and  table.  Along  the  road  he  saluted  sever- 
al acquaintances  as  General,  or  Judge,  and  in  an  aside 
told  us  that  they  were  living  at  his  house.  But  our 
plans  were  laid  with  a  view  to  compensation  for  our  late 
discomforts,  and  having  disguised  my  travelling  clothes 
under  a  good  overcoat,  and  kicked  off  my  overalls  at  a 
corner  when  no  one  was  looking,  I  trammed  up  town, 
and  walked  boldly  into  a  good  hotel.  I  often  after- 
wards watched  the  desk-clerk  hesitate  somewhat  at  the 
dubious-looking  visitors  coming  to  his  hotel.  The 


PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES.  83 

weather-stained  hat  and  clothes,  somewhat  dirty  and 
spotted  with  smuts  in  the  train  journey,  effectually  dis- 
guised, in  some  cases,  very  solid  men,  and  good  com- 
pany. In  Chicago  they  are  forgetting  the  traditions  of 
the  West;  it  is  the  clothes  and  not  the  man  they  now 
look  to.  This  of  itself  transfers  Chicago  from  the  class 
of  Western  to  Eastern  cities;  and  when  you  have  eaten 
a  very  good  dinner,  you  will  feel  yourself  at  once  in  the 
van  of  civilization. 

After  a  pleasant  week  spent  in  Chicago,  I  return  to 
Montana,  eventually  making  Miles  City  my  headquar- 
ters. There  I  bought  a  horse,  and  packing  a  little  bed- 
ding behind  the  saddle,  set  out  on  the  loth  of  November 
along  the  Deadwood  road,  to  see  the  country,  which  is 
little  settled,  and  is  comprised  in  the  buffalo  range.  I 
expected  to  reach  a  cabin  every  night,  so,  although 
winter  had  fairly  set  in,  I  did  not  take  any  food,  nor  the 
ordinary  outfit  which  would  have  been  necessary  for 
camping,  and  would  have  required  a  second  horse.  The 
stages  were  long,  each  twenty-five  to  thirty  miles,  while 
one  approached  forty.  Even  on  a  fairly  travelled  trail, 
the  beginner  in  prairie  life  is  apt  to  go  wrong,  or  to  find 
his  way  with  difficulty.  The  American  is  short  of  words 
when  giving  directions;  you  can  seldom  get  more  out 
of  him  than  "Keep  the  main  travelled  road,"  or,  "You 
cannot  miss  it;  it  goes  straight  ahead."  You  start  out 
on  a  well-defined  road,  and  outside  the  fence  find  one 
branch  turns  sharp  to  the  right,  the  other,  more  used, 
goes  straight  on  to  the  hills;  an  old  hand  knows  at  once 
that  the  latter  is  a  wood-road  for  hauling  lumber,  and 
goes  right.  Say  you  go  well  for  six  or  seven  miles;  the 
track,  though  not  very  clear,  can  be  easily  traced;  the 


84  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

wheel-marks  separate,  but  rejoin  further  on;  but  now 
there  is  a  fork  in  the  road — both  are  well  travelled, 
which  is  it?  The  next  ranch  you  know  for  certain  is 
ten  miles  off  on  your  road;  not  a  living  creature  is  in 
sight.  You  must  make  a  choice,  and  perhaps  not  before 
a  mile  find  out  your  mistake — you  must  either  go  back, 
or  strike  across  country  to  regain  your  proper  road. 
The  off-road  leads  to  some  meadows  where  hay  has 
lately  been  hauled;  the  most  travelled  tracks  were  de- 
cidedly along  it.  After  travelling  some  time,  instinct 
comes  to  your  help;  the  trails  are  not  then  all  difficult. 
Finger-posts  are  hardly  known,  and  the  few  put  up  by 
private  persons  are  shamefully  misused;  their  general 
fate  is  to  be  cut  down  by  some  man  too  lazy  to  fetch 
firewood;  they  are  often  changed  through  malice  or  the 
local  sense  of  humor.  To  misdirect  persons  was  a  com- 
mon enough  trick  among  ranchers.  The  accepted  no- 
tion is  that  a  man  should  ask  no  questions,  but  travel 
on  his  judgment;  not  a  bad  plan;  but  to  insure  a  sup- 
per and  shelter  for  the  night  is  well  worth  a  little  in- 
quiry. 

The  halt  for  the  night  was  made  at  farm-houses  or 
small  stores,  the  accommodation  a  little  rough,  but 
good  enough  if  you  get  a  clean  floor  and  the  use  of  a 
couple  of  buffalo-robes.  The  horse  was  stabled,  so 
there  was  no  difficulty  in  the  way  of  an  early  start,  ex- 
cept the  laziness  of  the  people.  If  the  men  were  away, 
the  women  were  always  for  taking  a  holiday,  and  were 
an  hour  later  in  rising  and  preparing  breakfast ;  they 
were  even  disinclined  to  get  the  usual  staples  ready,  pre- 
ferring to  go  without  rather  than  work.  On  roads 
which  are  much  travelled,  the  competition  of  the  farmers 


PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES.  85 

who  lodge  travellers  leads  to  quite  another  style  of  busi- 
ness, and  then  you  can  get  your  breakfast  and  start  by 
daylight.  At  some  of  the  places  a  traffic  was  carried  on 
with  the  Indians,  who  brought  in  skins,  sold  them  for 
money,  with  which  they  immediately  bought  food  ;  the 
dollars  were  not  five  minutes  out  of  the  till.  In  one  in- 
stance dollars  were  scarce,  so  that  the  Indian  was  con- 
tent to  receive  pieces  of  wood,  say  seven  for  a  buffalo- 
robe  ;  he  would  then  lay  down  two  with  the  word  sugar; 
two  more,  coffee,  and  so  on,  till  he  got  rid  of  the  encum- 
brance of  money.  The  men  and  squaws  have  quite  sepa- 
rate purses,  and  bring  in  their  skins  to  trade  independ- 
ently. They  are  not  so  simple  now  but  that  they  get  a 
fair  price  for  the  pelts;  but  in  their  purchases  they  are  im- 
posed upon,  or  rather  pay  long  prices.  One  good  woman 
was  very  indignant  at  the  way  the  Indians  were  taken 
advantage  of  at  a  neighboring  ranch,  and  assured  me 
that  she  gave  them  for  their  money  nearly  as  much  as  to 
a  white  man.  The  journey  from  stage  to  stage  occupied 
the  best  part  of  the  day.  Having  found  a  man  with  a 
wagon  going  in  my  direction,  I  got  him  to  carry  the 
blankets.  The  day  we  started  on  the  longest  stage,  we 
were  overtaken  by  a  storm,  and  camped  ten  miles  short 
of  the  ranch;  we  could  afford  to  do  this,  as  his  wagon 
had  a  good  tilt  and  a  bottoming  of  straw.  The  two 
mules  and  the  horse  were  picketed  by  long  ropes  to  the 
wheel,  and  we  did  the  best  we  could  for  supper  in  gusts 
of  wind  and  showers  of  snow.  The  apparition  in  the  fire- 
light of  a  strange  white  dog  startled  us.  He  was  a  civil- 
ized dog;  we  were  suspicious  ;  immediately  thought  of 
horse-thieves,  and  looked  round  at  our  animals.  That 
night  we  lay  in  the  wagon,  a  cold  and  disturbed  attempt 


86  PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES. 

at  sleeping;  the  wind  threatening  to  turn  us  over,  and  the 
animals  jerking  their  ropes  as  if  scared;  whereas,  when 
quiet,  we  must  need  look  out  to  assure  ourselves  that 
they  had  not  been  driven  off. 

The  night,  however,  was  too  bad  even  to  steal  horses 
in,  so  no  harm  came  to  us.  Next  morning  the  wind 
lulled,  but  the  weather  hardened,  snow  still  falling;  but 
every  indication  of  very  severe  cold  to  follow.  We  de- 
termine to  halt  at  the  cabin.  At  this  solitary  house, 
which  had  a  room  for  the  family,  a  half-underground 
cellar,  and  an  unfinished  large  store-room,  some  eight  of 
us  were  caught  in  a  cold  snap.  The  weather  fell  to  over 
forty  degrees  below  zero;  and  during  the  first  day  a  sharp 
wind  blew.  The  travellers  kept  dropping  in;  the  first 
man  had  come  from  three  miles  down  the  valley;  he 
started  over-night,  but  feeling  doubtful  of  his  bearing, 
and  blinded  by  the  snow  blowing,  he  found  a  hollow  in 
the  bank,  sheltered  himself  and  his  horse,  and  lit  a  fire. 
His  position  had  evidently  been  not  quite  comfortable 
nor  reassuring.  Then  came  in  the  post-stage  from  the 
west,  the  driver  a  little  frost-bitten;  he  had  come  within 
half  a  mile  of  the  house  the  night  before,  as  a  mitten  he 
dropped  there  was  picked  up  next  day.  In  the  snow- 
storm he  got  turned  round,  and  went  off  seven  miles  on 
the  back  road,  and  had  then  stopped  for  the  night.  Next 
morning  he  was  bent  on  pursuing  the  road  in  the  same 
direction  ;  but  the  passenger  with  him  objected  that  the 
rising  sun  was  behind  them  instead  of  in  front.  After 
some  persuasion  the  driver  turned  round.  Whiskey  was 
at  the  bottom  of  a  good  deal  of  this  trouble.  A  little  be- 
fore noon  the  boy  came  in  riding  with  the  post-bag  from 
the  other  side.  He  fancied  himself  all  right,  and,  though 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  8/ 

unable  to  face  the  wind  with  his  carriage,  had  spent  the 
night  securely  enough.  But  when  we  looked  at  him  his 
face  was  discolored  on  the  nose  and  cheeks  with  black 
patches  of  frost,  and  both  ears  were  frost-bitten.  The 
portion  of  the  ear  frost-bitten  looked  as  if  the  flesh 
were  turned  into  a  yellowish-white  marble.  On  going 
inside  and  taking  off  his  boots,  he  found  both  feet  had 
also  been  caught ;  the  latter  were  dipped  into  cold  water 
mixed  with  snow.  The  ears  were  lubricated  with  kero- 
sene oil,  and  wrapped  up  in  a  hankerchief.  I  do  not 
think  much  of  this  remedy.  Cold  water  is  the  better 
plan;  and,  after  the  parts  have  been  thoroughly  thawed, 
oil  no  doubt  is  good  to  allay  the  surface  irritation.  The 
return  of  circulation  in  his  ears  seem  to  cause  acute  pain; 
whereas  in  his  feet,  of  which  at  least  so  much  as  two  toes 
and  the  joints  were  quite  colorless,  he  did  not  complain  of 
suffering.  I  often  afterwards,  during  the  winter,  saw 
young  fellows  with  blistered  patches  on  their  cheeks. 
With  the  heaviest  of  clothing  and  best  of  care  it  is  impos- 
sible to  avoid  being  frost-bitten  if  caught  away  from  shel- 
ter during  a  cold  "  snap,"  that  is,  during  the  passage  of  a 
wave  of  cold,  as  newspapers  put  it.  The  snap  lasts  from 
three  days  to  a  week,  as  a  rule;  and  the  wise  man,  find- 
ing himself  in  shelter,  stays  there.  We  all  stuck  to  our 
shanty,  and  fortunately  had  a  good  time.  There  were 
some  excellent  lumps  of  buffalo-meat,  and  a  cheerful, 
busy  little  woman,  who,  to  satisfy  the  gathering  of  visi- 
tors and  her  own  little  family,  was  cooking  all  the  day 
long.  We  spent  the  time  in  the  dug-out  keeping  the 
fire  warm,  except  when  paying  a  flying  visit  to  the  horses 
to  give  them  hay  or  water,  a  business  we  accomplished 
with  the  best  speed. 


88  PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES. 

Three  old  bull  buffaloes,  "moss-backs,"  from  the  faded 
tint  of  their  shaggy  manes,  were  feeding  quietly  with  the 
tame  herd  in  front  of  the  ranch.  Sometimes  one  of  the 
young  steers  would  go  up  and  butt  a  buffalo;  this  was 
all  the  attention  the  herd  paid.  The  buffaloes  heeded 
nothing;  they  fed  during  the  day  and  left  that  night. 
An  old  bull  is  not  worth  killing.  The  hide  is,  from  its 
size  and  the  massive  weight,  difficult  to  strip.  When  off  it 
is  excessively  heavy  to  carry,  and  it  fetches  a  very  much 
less  price  than  the  lighter  and  dark-haired  pelts  of 
younger  animals.  Although  passing  through  the  middle 
of  the  buffalo  range,  I  never  saw  any  great  number;  from 
sixty  to  eighty  is  the  largest  band  I  met.  The  hunters 
were  all  over  the  country,  and  the  animals  were  terribly 
harassed.  The  slaughter  is  foolishly  reckless;  the 
hunters  will  kill  them  knowing  they  cannot,  and  do  not, 
intend  to  skin  them.  The  bodies  are  just  left,  and  freeze 
hard — they  are  wasted.  A  hunter  will  ride  in  at  dark 
and  tell  us  at  supper  how,  a  few  miles  out,  he  met  two 
cows:  "I  got  off  my  horse  and  killed  them,"  he  was 
satisfied.  The  hunters  are  mostly  men  whose  work  is 
shut  down  during  the  winter.  A  few  are  professional — 
that  is,  follow  no  other  trade. 

The  life  of  these  hunters  is  ordinarily  lazy,  useless, 
and  animal.  If  money  admits  of  it,  a  whiskey-barrel 
has  been  brought  out.  They  will  hunt  now  and  again 
on  a  fine  day;  the  pleasure  is  to  kill,  the  trouble  of 
skinning  is  too  great,  and  is  avoided  under  any  trivial 
excuse ;  every  reason  is  good  enough  to  keep  them 
round  the  camp-fire.  They  grow  slovenly  in  their 
habits,  and  dirty  from  carelessness.  Their  clothes  are 
smeared  with  blood  and  grease  ;  their  hands  and  faces 


PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES.  89 

even  grow  strangers  to  water;  the  space  round  their 
temporary  homes  are  filthy  with  scraps  of  meat,  bones, 
and  hide.  Cooking  under  these  circumstances  falls 
into  degradation.  The  vessels  are  not  cleaned  ;  each 
man  marks  his  platter,  etc.,  and  uses  it  as  he  left  it  after 
the  last  meal.  Great  allowances  must  be  made  for  the 
extremity  of  cold  through  which  the  hunters  have  to 
exist ;  and,  being  mostly  men  of  but  small  means,  in 
enjoying  these  outings  they  must  be  of  frugal  mind. 
A  hunter  occasionally  has  a  thrilling  adventure,  in 
which  his  life  is  snatched  out  of  a  blizzard,  or  the  icy 
grip  of  a  north  wind  ;  often  as  not  the  peril  into  which 
he  fell  was  due  to  some  disregard  of  a  well-known  pre- 
caution through  mere  laziness.  The  romance  of  the 
life  may  be  there  still.  I  could  not  see  it  ;  but  the  idle 
freedom  from  all  control,  the  needlessness  of  any  regard 
for  decencies  of  civilized  life — these  survive,  and  may 
be  still  indulged. 

Though  comfortable  ourselves  in  the  dug-out,  our 
horses  had  a  miserable  time.  The  stable  was  unfinished; 
the  logs  had  been  laid  one  on  another,  but  the  inter- 
stices had  not  been  filled  ;  the  wind  blew  through  this, 
searching  out  the  poor  animals.  At  the  end  of  three 
days  the  weather  moderated,  and  we  could  all  go  on. 
There  were  some  splendid  display  of  Aurora  Borealis 
during  my  trip,  and  once  or  twice,  sleeping  on  the 
floor  of  a  cabin,  I  was  woke  by  the  light  which  shone 
through  the  window,  equalling  that  of  early  morning. 
The  magnificence  of  the  spectacle  defies  description.  I 
remember  more  particularly  two  occasions  :  one,  when 
the  light  was  of  a  bright,  rosy  red  ;  another,  when  from 
round  a  whole  semi-circle  of  the  horizon  straight  shafts 


90  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

of  tremulous  light  shot  upwards,  and  nearly  met  in  the 
zenith  ;  a  long  flame  of  white  light  flickering  in  the 
remnant  of  blue  sky  from  the  end  of  one  of  the  fagots. 
There  were  a  few  herds  of  sheep  near  Miles  City  ;  these 
had  lately  arrived,  and  were  being  dipped  to  check  the 
spread  of  scab.  The  sheep  were  launched  into  the 
shoot  holding  a  solution  of  sulphur  and  tobacco  in  hot 
water ;  the  temperature  was  120°,  and  they  were  kept  in 
four  minutes.  When  they  came  out  they  were  still 
panting  with  the  heat  as  they  stood,  on  the  dripping 
platform.  Though  the  air  was  many  degrees  below 
zero  the  process  did  not  seem  to  hurt  the  sheep.  My 
trip  was  stretched  out  to  the  20th  December,  when  I 
thought  it  high  time  to  leave  travelling  for  another  sea- 
son. There  was  plenty  of  ice,  but  little  skating.  The 
children  amused  themselves,  and  the  girls  at  times 
would  induce  one  of  the  more  obedient  of  their  vassals 
to  assist  them,  but  the  young  men  even  of  seventeen 
and  eighteen  looked  upon  skating  as  unmanly. 

After  the  beginning  of  the  year,  I  started  to  go  along 
the  line  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Railway,  which  was 
open  so  far  as  the  point  at  which  it  leaves  the  Yellow- 
stone River,  now  called  Livingstone,  after  having  tried 
two  other  names.  The  wind  coming  through  the  can- 
yon blows  a  hurricane,  driving  the  snow  till  it  lays  the 
ground  bare,  then  driving  the  sand  and  pebbles  so  that 
it  is  quite  hard  to  face  it.  The  hotel  all  night  long 
shook  and  trembled.  The  inhabitants  say  this  goes  on 
the  year  round,  which  seems  a  pleasant  outlook  for 
settlers.  The  happiest  suggestion  possible  was  made 
by  some  one  just  before  going  to  bed  :  "  Suppose  the 
house  took  fire !"  One  road  to  the  Mammoth  Hot 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  QI 

Springs  and  into  the  National  Park  left  the  railroad 
here  ;  but  since  the  completion  of  the  line  other  more 
promising  routes  may  have  been  opened.  A  sleigh  car- 
ried us  over  the  hills  to  Bozeman,  a  town  prosperous 
already  before  the  advent  of  the  N.  P.  Railway.  The 
latter  was  said  to  be  at  enmity  with  Bozeman  ;  rail- 
ways, as  I  have  already  said,  acting  the  traditional  step- 
mother. My  wish  was  to  go  through  into  Washington 
Territory,  which  necessitated  methods  of  travel  changing 
between  Concord  coaches,  open  sleighs,  and  jerkies,  that 
is  of  a  wagon  without  springs.  The  Concord  coach  is  the 
sanctioned  design  for  a  mail-coach.  It  is  slung  high  on 
leather  straps,  has  three  seats,  which  neither  can  hold 
nor  accommodate  three  people  each  ;  but  nine  persons 
are  shoved  inside.  The  windows  are  stoutly  lined  with 
canvas.  It  is  a  most  ingenious  torture-chamber  for 
which  you  pay,  and  from  which  no  one  could  escape 
in  the  case  of  an  accident.  The  door  is  small ;  it  is 
amusing  to  see  the  traveller,  rolled  up  in  clothes  and 
buffalo-robes,  forcing  his  way  in  and  out.  The  sleighs 
were  very  simple  affairs,  open  to  all  weather,  and  the 
pleasanter  for  being  open  so  long  as  the  weather  was 
bright ;  but  if  snow  threatened,  the  passengers  gene- 
rally scrambled  to  secure  the  back-seat,  where  they  did 
not  face  the  storm,  and  found  a  little  protection  behind 
the  driver  and  his  box;  but  in  winter,  unless  very  much 
pressed  for  time,  the  American  will  tell  you  you  "  don't 
want"  to  start  out  in  bad  weather.  Falling  snow  is 
disagreeable  enough  ;  but  the  dangerous  time  is  when 
a  strong  wind  drives  the  already  fallen  snow  in  a  thick 
cloud.  It  is  then  impossible  to  see  a  few  yards  ahead 
of  you,  and  the  chances  are,  whether  mounted  or  on 


92  PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES. 

foot,  you  will  lose  yourself,  and  flounder  into  some  drift. 
Every  winter  men  lose  their  lives  during  these  storms, 
which  often  precede  a  cold  snap.  There  were  two  acci- 
dents of  the  sort  on  the  road  I  was  travelling,  within  a 
month  after  I  had  crossed  over — driver  and  passengers 
all  frozen  to  death. 

The  liveliest  travelling  was  by  jerky,  the  ordinary 
American  farm-wagon  without  springs.  You  sat  on  a 
board  laid  across  the  wagon-box  ;  that  is,  you  tried  to 
sit,  for  truly  half  the  time  you  spent  in  the  air,  stiffening 
your  arms  to  temper  the  bump,  bound  to  meet  your 
return  to  the  seat.  Whenever  the  snow  was  not  deep 
enough  for  sleigh  travelling  the  jerky  was  introduced  ; 
this  was  generally  across  some  exposed  high  country. 
The  road  over  the  greater  part  of  its  length  had  only 
been — made  implies  some  sort  of  artificial  interference 
with  nature  ;  say — driven  over  since  the  railway  had 
commenced  its  works  ;  it  was,  therefore,  splendidly 
rough,  and  of  course  frozen  hard  as  iron.  The  driver 
would  send  his  four  horses  along  in  great  style,  and  we 
grinned  and  bore  it.  There  was  no  weight  to  speak  of 
in  the  wagon,  and  when  going  across  the  slope  of  a  hill 
the  wheels  would  slip  downward,  and  the  wagon  would 
travel  along  sideways,  the  hind-wheels  several  feet 
further  down  the  hill  than  where  the  team  was  trotting. 
At  one  place  the  only  way  to  get  down  with  safety,  with- 
out unhitching  and  bother,  was  to  make  an  S-curve  on 
the  face  of  the  slope.  It  required  clever  driving  to 
manage  it  properly  ;  and,  to  speak  well  of  the  bridge 
that  carries  you  over,  I  must  give  credit  to  the  wagon 
for  standing  upon  its  wheels  during  the  circus  perform- 
ance. It  travelled  both  forward  with  the  horses  and  slid 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  93 

very  quickly  down-hill  of  itself,  the  resultant  being  a 
diagonal  sort  of  progress  that  made  one  wish  to  get  out 
and  walk.  The  steady  bumping  along  the  road  is  really 
hard  carriage  exercise  ;  I  don't  know  its  equal  in  its 
line.  Sleigh-driving,  in  a  heavy  machine,  over  the 
badly  broken  snow-roads,  is  not  to  be  confounded  with 
the  sleighing  in  and  about  cities,  of  which  we  hear  such 
delightful  stories.  On  the  road  we  travel  there  are 
many  up  and  downs  ;  we  do  not  skim  along  the  surface, 
but  work  over  it  with  a  continual  crunching  and  scream- 
ing of  the  snow  ground  under  the  runners.  "  Sit  heavy 
on  the  up-side  !  "  warns  the  driver,  when  we  all  edge  up- 
ward, those  at  the  lower  level  putting  their  arms  around 
the  waists  of  their  companions  above  ;  a  nervous  man 
jumps  on  to  the  edge  of  the  box  to  give  the  up-side  the 
full  advantage  of  his  weight.  It's  a  sidling  bit  of  road, 
with  a  steep  angle  to  it,  which  abuts  on  a  bank  overlook- 
ing a  stream,  that  only  lives  by  the  pace  it  dashes  down 
the  rocky  bed.  We  are  not  afraid  of  drowning  ;  but  a 
turn-over  into  the  torrent  is  not  desirable  with  the  ther- 
mometer below  zero,  and  no  habitations  within  a  dozen 
miles. 

The  amount  of  clothes  you  wear  when  staging  depends 
on  your  wardrobe.  The  best  plan  is  to  put  on  every- 
thing ;  this  will  lighten  your  portmanteau,  and  will  not 
be  one  article  too  much  on  your  body.  You  have  of 
course  purchased  some  special  garments  suited  to  the 
country,  such  as  are  never  required  in  England  ;  loose 
felt  socks  and  soft  overshoes  for  the  feet ;  a  leather 
waistcoat  lined  or  wadded  ;  the  biggest  fur-lined  over- 
coat ever  worn  by  man  ;  you  head  and  ears  are  well 
wrapped  up,  and  a  buffalo-robe  is  folded  round  your 


94  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

waist  and  over  your  legs.  In  these  you  feel  as  if  you 
cannot  move  ;  but  they  will  not  always  keep  you  warm. 
The  feet  somehow  nearly  always  get  cold.  The  bottom 
of  the  sleigh  is  hard  and  draughty  ;  hay  is  sometimes 
spread,  but  at  the  first  station  where  we  may  get  out  for 
half-an-hour,  the  cows  regularly  steal  it  all  ;  it  is  no  one's 
business  to  study  the  comfort  of  any  one  else.  The 
driver  is  always  a  man  of  importance,  and  is  a  leader  of 
opinion,  in  many  matters  quite  outside  horses  and  roads 
and  his  professional  experience,  at  the  two  hotels  which 
are  the  termini  of  his  daily  labors.  "  The  stage  !"  is 
called  out,  and  the  hotel  is  in  a  bustle.  It  is  the  evening 
excitement  ;  every  one  is  interested,  and  the  residents 
stare  through  the  glass  doors ;  the  porter,  clerk,  and 
proprietor  actually  face  the  cold  outside.  Two  or  three 
bundles  are  assisted  to  rise  and  climb  out  of  the  sleigh  ; 
they  are  mostly  hairy  bundles,  sprinkled  with  snow,  on 
two  props  wrapped  up  in  gunny-sacks.  A  small  uncov- 
ered piece  of  face  just  shows  eyes  and  a  nose  under 
which  is  a  bristle  of  hoar-frosted  moustache  and  icicles. 
The  travellers  are  glad  enough  to  come  in,  to  throw  off 
the  robes  and  coats,  and  sit  near  the  stove.  After  half- 
an-hour's  time  the  driver  drops  in  ;  he  is  substantially 
enveloped  in  folds  of  buffalo-coat,  shawls,  and  flannel- 
lined  garments.  It  is  no  joke  to  sit  up  and  face  the  wind 
for  eight  or  ten  hours  ;  and  if  twenty  pounds  of  extra 
clothing  are  to  help  him  to  do  it,  he  is  bound  to  wear 
them.  "A  man  is  a  fool,  who  can  avoid  it,  to  be  either 
cold  or  hungry." 

The  road  from  Bozeman  lay  through  Helena,  which  is 
the  chief  town  of  Montana.  Here  the  Legislature  was 
assembled,  which  kept  the  place  lively.  The  two  parties 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  95 

were  equally  divided  ;  and  as  the  first  business  was- to 
elect  a  president,  clerk,  lamplighter,  housekeeper,  and 
other  officials,  and  as  neither  side  would  yield,  there 
was  a  dead-lock.  For  ten  days  at  least  no  business  was 
transacted.  The  Legislature  met  and  voted  for  a  presi- 
dent ;  result — equal  numbers  for  different  nominees. 
After  a  short  interval  the  members  would  vote  again — 
same  result  ;  after  which  they  separated  and  adjourned, 
and  so  on  day  by  day.  Neither  party  would  accept  a 
compromise.  The  people  looked  on — first  laughed,  and 
then  got  angry,  and  readily  accused  the  members  of 
aiming  only  at  their  salaries.  The  number  of  sittings 
are  limited,  and  the  time  of  the  members  was  conse- 
quently dreadfully  wasted.  After  I  left  I  understand 
some  compromise  was  settled.  The  politics  of  a  nation 
are  always  intricate  to  a  foreigner,  and  the  terms  even  are 
strange.  A  Democrat  represented,  conversationally, 
much  what  the  term  Conservative  implies  with  us.  Many 
Democrats  do  not  admire  a  government  by  the  people, 
nor  are  they  violent  partisans  of  republican  principles  ; 
they  claim  to  include  the  more  educated  classes  of 
America,  yet  their  main  supporters  are  the  ignorant 
Irish  of  the  cities.  The  elections  this  year  have  been 
going  all  awry,  and  promised  a  good  fight  for  the  choice 
of  the  next  President.  The  American  is  always  a  poli- 
tician so  long  as  there  is  anything  to  gain.  The  vote  is 
a  substantial  advantage  which  enables  him  to  put  in  a 
friend,  or  to  benefit  himself  ;  the  loss  of  citizenship  is  in 
consequence  dreaded  ;  and  a  criminal,  if  he  has  interest, 
will  be  pardoned  the  last  term  of  his  imprisonment  to 
enable  him  to  retain  this  right.  The  elections  which  I 
saw  went  off  much  in  the  usual  style,  and  apparently  to 


g6  PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES. 

general  satisfaction,  except  of  those  who  lost  their 
bets  ;  but  a  few  months  afterwards  I  heard  the  whole  lot 
of  county  officers  were  turned  out  by  the  government  of 
the  Territory  at  one  swoop.  To  learn  the  worst  one  need 
only  read  the  newspapers,  which  teem  with  accounts  of 
frauds  said  to  have  been  committed  by  the  most  promi- 
nent officials  ;  the  openness  with  which  such  accusations 
are  made,  and  the  readiness  to  credit  them,  show  that 
the  people  believe  in  the  weaknesses  of  their  own  elected. 
Although  the  citizen  is  very  tolerant  of  the  waste  of 
county  funds,  he  is  constantly  anxious  that  his  particu- 
lar State  should  in  some  way  excel  and  appear  promi- 
nently. He  is  not  satisfied  with  having  done  well,  but 
is  thirsting  to  be  appreciated  and  to  extort  praise. 
Nothing  pleases  more  than  the  real  or  pretended  aston- 
ishment of  strangers.  The  barefaced  flattery  of  the 
town  and  State  by  the  traveller  from  the  East,  who  does 
not  care  to  provoke  an  argument  with  his  interviewer, 
is  printed  in  large  type  as  sure  to  catch  the  local  reader. 
Sensible  Western  tradesmen  who  have  travelled  in  every 
State,  and  know  New  York  probably  better  than  the 
roads  in  their  county,  will  remark  that  they  like  their 
Eastern  friends  to  come  among  them,  and  be  satisfied  by 
their  own  eyes  that  they  do  not  live  in  dug-outs  or  log- 
huts.  As  if  the  average  New  Englanders  could  be  igno- 
rant of  the  wealth  and  progress  of  great  Western  cities 
which  they  supply  with  train-loads  of  most  inferior 
manufactured  goods,  and  whose  inhabitants  never  cease 
when  abroad  to  sound  the  trumpet  of  defiance,  and  call 
all  people  who  on  earth  do  dwell  to  acknowledge  the  in- 
telligence and  enterprise  of  our  citizens  located  in  the 
special  corner-lot  from  which  they  started.  As  for  this 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  97 

assertiveness,  one  should  admire  it;  it  tends  to  the  virtue 
of  contentment.  We  English  must  plead  guilty  to  a 
feeling  of  satisfaction  with  our  corner-lot,  and  admit 
that  we  will  constantly  measure  the  results  of  creation, 
whether  human  or  divine,  by  this  standard.  Once  the 
youthful  error  of  cosmopolitanism  has  been  cast  out,  we 
may  say  nothing,  but  feel  the  superiority  of  our  lot. 
But  why  should  we  alone  remain  silent,  or  be  taxed  with 
pride  and  prejudice,  whereas  the  American,  Frenchman, 
or  man  of  any  other  nation  receives  from  the  stranger 
a  patient  hearing,  generous  admissions  and  when  his 
fountain  of  eloquence  has  run  dry,  the  kindly  excuse  that 
his  patriotic  vanity  is  to  his  credit?  This  is  favoritism. 

From  Helena  we  went  by  Missoulah,  after  which  we 
began  to  traverse  a  very  wild  country,  and  passed 
through  a  good  deal  of  forest.  The  snow  lay  thick 
under  the  trees;  along  fallen  limbs  it  makes  a  wall  two 
feet  high,  and  with  flat  faces  coinciding  with  the  width 
of  the  limb;  on  the  stumps  of  trees  a  cylinder  of  snow  is 
piled  up.  The  scene  is  very  picturesque,  but  mournful 
and  dead.  As  we  neared  the  terminus  of  the  western 
end  of  the  railway,  which  would  take  us  to  Portland,  we 
heard  startling  stories  of  what  was  going  on  there. 
"Weeksville  is  very  lively,"  the  travellers  said.  Nine 
men  had  been  shot  or  hung  by  the  Vigilants  during  the 
past  fortnight.  Whatever  the  number  might  have  been, 
the  main  facts  were  true  enough.  A  little  bit  of  a  place, 
holding  some  twenty  cabins  or  so,  set  down  in  the 
forest,  had  developed  an  amount  of  scoundreldom  that 
was  intolerable  even  to  the  tolerant  men  gathered  at  the 
end  of  a  railway.  A  committee  was  formed,  and  notices 
were  posted  warning  all  people  who  were  not  following 


98  PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES. 

a  trade,  or  were  not  gamblers,  to  quit.  The  exception 
in  favor  of  gamblers  was  curious,  unless  you  remember 
that  out  West  gambling  is  a  profession.  The  warning 
was  signed  with  some  mystic  figures,  thus  7 — n — 77.  I 
don't  know  that  I  have  the  right  figures;  but  none  of 
the  persons  I  asked  could  or  would  explain  their  mean- 
ing. The  respectable  people  of  Weeksville  carried 
revolvers  in  their  hands  openly  and  in  broad  daylight. 
The  two  men  in  charge  of  the  parcels  express  were 
armed  with  shortened  smooth-bores,  and  kept  most 
strangers  out  of  the  van  in  which  the  express  parcels 
were  carried;  the  alternative  for  passengers  was  to  sit 
outside  on  a  flat  truck,  exposed  for  a  few  hours  to  the 
night  air.  This  was  but  on  the  link,  for  after  travelling 
over  some  miles  of  new  line,  we  were  run  into  a  station, 
and  rejoined  regular  railway  communication.  We  had 
at  this  stage  entered  Washington  Territory.  Our  first 
experience  of  the  train  was  to  be  blockaded  in  a  snow- 
drift for  over  twenty-four  hours.  The  snow  was  appar- 
ently as  deep  as  up  to  the  bottom  of  the  windows  in  the 
cars.  When  we  reached  Spokan  Falls  we  heard  the  line 
was  breached  in  sixty  or  eighty  places;  a  chinook  or 
warm  wind  had  produced  a  thaw,  and  the  floods  had 
washed  out  the  line.  After  the  delay  of  a  whole  week 
we  reached  Walla- Walla.  Here  we  had  come  back  to 
moderate  civilization.  There  was  a  story  that,  in  defi- 
ance of  the  law  which  compels  all  saloons  to  close  dur- 
ing Sunday,  the  two  principal  saloons  found  it  to  their 
benefit  to  keep  open  on  Sunday,  and  to  pay  the  fine 
of  $50  or  so  every  Monday  morning;  it  was  rough  on 
those  whose  business  was  not  large  enough  to  justify 
the  expenditure.  Walla-Walla  used  to  be  the  head- 


PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES.  99 

quarters  of  a  great  deal  of  stock  business;  but  the 
country  is  turning  its  attention  to  farming.  There  is 
excellent  wheat-land  along  the  railway,  of  which  the 
company  had  raised  the  price  from  $2.50  to  $5,  $7.50, 
and  $10  an  acre.  There  is  plenty  of  timber  and  or- 
chards. The  apples,  however,  are  in  such  quantities 
that  much  of  the  crop  was  not  even  picked.  The  price 
of  cattle  was  very  high;  there  had  been  a  great  demand 
for  beef,  and  a  two-year-old  steer  was  said  not  to  exist 
within  reach  of  the  railway.  Cows,  calves,  and  year- 
lings were  offered  at  $20  a  head  all  round.  It  was  not 
worth  while  at  that  price  to  drive  them  on  to  the 
ranges  I  had  left,  where  they  were  nearly  as  cheap; 
American  stock-cattle  being  held  at  from  $22  to  $25, 
depending  a  good  deal  on  the  numbers  of  large  or 
young  beasts.  A  number  of  Canadians,  and  emigrants 
who  had  first  tried  the  new  Canadian  provinces,  were  to 
be  met  throughout  the  northern  part  of  the  States;  from 
what  they  said  work  was  easier  to  find  here  than  there. 
The  winters  are  not  so  long,  and  the  country  being  in  a 
more  advanced  state  of  settlement  life  was  not  so  hard 
nor  so  expensive.  There  is  no  doubt  a  good  deal  of  im- 
patience among  the  new  settlers  of  Canada  that  their 
prosperity  does  not  advance  with  strides  equal  to  that 
of  the  American  territories;  and  they  perhaps  con- 
sider the  panacea  for  their  trouble  is  a  union  with  the 
States.  Their  real  trouble  seems  to  me  a  matter,  of 
climate.  Where  farmers  may  plough  in  June  with  great- 
coats on,  and  find  winter  upon  them  in  October,  is  not 
an  attractive  country;  and  until  more  southern-lying 
land  is  fully  occupied  the  Canadians  must  wait.  If  they 
could  transfer  their  farms  into  a  more  congenial  climate. 


IOO  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

good;  but  the  best  of  governments  cannot  lengthen 
their  summers.  Neither  the  French  nor  the  new  set- 
lers  are  sentimentally  loyal;  they  are  looking  to  bet- 
ter themselves,  and  are  ready  to  accept  any  measures. 
It  is  immaterial  whether  they  call  themselves  by  one 
name  or  another, — they  are  on  the  move. 

Being  about  the  middle  of  February  the  country  was 
still  covered  with  snow.  There  was  nothing  to  be  done 
in  a  small  town;  it  was  more  prudent  to  spare  one's  en- 
durance, and  to  await  the  spring  in  some  better  quarters. 
San  Francisco  seemed  the  natural  place  to  do  this.  The 
easiest  way  was  to  train  to  Portland,  and  take  the 
steamer  down  the  coast,  which  was  accordingly  done. 
We  encountered  the  most  abominable  knocking-about 
in  crossing  the  bar  of  the  Willamette  River.  The  avail- 
able depth  of  water  here  is  only  sixteen  feet,  so  that 
very  possibly  the  trade  of  this  portion  of  the  States  will 
find  a  new  outlet  at  Tacoma,  or  Seattle  on  Puget  Sound. 

Has  anything  been  left  unsaid  of  San  Francisco?  I 
think  not.  It  is  distinctly  a  pleasure-loving  town,  and  a 
cheerful  place  for  the  stranger  to  sojourn  in.  There  are 
plenty  of  theatres,  and  the  bouquets  and  banners  of  flow- 
ers with  which  the  impressible  audience  pay  tribute  to 
their  stage-goddesses  are  the  largest  in  the  world.  The 
Irish  held  a  grand  function  in  honor  of  their  saint,  and 
"  processed"  through  the  streets  in  disguises  of  Masons, 
Odd-Fellows,  etc.,  bearing  banners,  and  accompanied  by 
much  brass  music.  The  cavalcade  was  headed  by  a 
"  Leafy-yet"  guard,  the  men  and  officer  dressed  com- 
pletely as  French  soldiers,  to  the  dismay  of  some  wan- 
derers of  that  nationality  not  quite  broken  in  to  Ameri- 
can disregard  of  old-world  convenances. 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES".  IOI 

The  travelling  world  has  agreed  that  San  Francisco  is 
a  charming  place;  but  what  are  its  charms,  and  how 
does  it  deserve  the  character?  Other  places  have  an 
equally  good  climate — at  least,  during  the  fortnight  or 
month  that  at  most  travellers  are  able  to  devote  to  a 
single  foreign  city.  We  find  mammoth  and  excellent 
hotels  nowadays  all  over  the  world.  Some  of  the 
streets,  if  fine,  do  not  surpass  those  of  other  prominent 
cities.  The  private  residences  on  the  hill  are  from  the 
outside  picturesque,  and  by  all  accounts  as  comfortable 
within  as  wealth  can  make  them.  The  wire  tram- 
cars  are  exemplary  in  the  way  they  carry  you  over  the 
ground,  smoothly  and  quickly;  but  there  is  no  country 
within  easy  reach — the  only  drive  is  through  the  park  to 
the  Seal  Rock.  The  harbor  is  a  fine  stretch  of  water, 
but  nothing  more.  A  few  bare  little  islands  unneces- 
sarily block  the  channel  without  adorning  it,  while  the 
Golden  Gate,  if  an  entrance  was  necessary,  seems  to  have 
been  put  up  in  nature's  most  ordinary  style.  The  first 
tendency  of  your  traveller  is  to  find  fault;  his  imagina- 
tion has  been  stimulated  by  the  perusal  of  books  made  to 
amuse,  or  by  descriptions  of  places  from  other  visitors 
who,  after  having  first  given  vent  to  their  disappointment, 
revert  to  the  second  phase  of  the  traveller's  humor, 
which  enables  him  to  judge  more  correctly  what  he  has 
seen,  but  arouses  a  new  feeling — that  is,  to  conceal  from 
others  to  what  extent  he  has  failed  in  the  commercial 
value  of  his  voyage.  It  is  a  simple  rule-of-three  sum.  If 
Switzerland  and  the  Alps  can  be  admired  for  twenty 
pounds,  how  much  more  must  I  seem  to  appreciate  a 
country  which  has  cost  me  two  hundred  ?  It  is,  I  think, 
as  a  residence  in  America  that  San  Francisco  should 


102  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

stand  high.  A  pleasant  climate  during  twelve  months 
is  not  to  be  found  everywhere;  while  there  is  something 
about  the  social  manners  which  is  Southern — that  is, 
expansive,  light-hearted,  and  less  strait-laced  than  those 
of  Eastern  towns.  Speaking  only  from  superficial  knowl- 
edge, the  difference  between  New  York  and  San  Fran- 
cisco is  not  unlike  that  between  London  and  Vienna  as 
concerns  out-door  life  and  amusements.  The  dollar  is 
king  here  as  elsewhere,  but  there  are  some  subjects  slack 
in  their  allegiance,  led  astray  no  doubt  by  the  gayer 
spirits  of  the  foreign  element,  which  comprises  quite  a 
number  of  Southern  Europeans.  Los  Angeles  is,  how- 
ever, running  San  Francisco  a  race  for  popularity;  its 
size  is  increasing  rapidly,  and  the  romantic  associations 
of  orange-blossoms,  laurels,  and  jessamine  surrounding 
your  cottage  home  form  part  of  the  stock  advertise- 
ments of  those  interested  in  real  estate  in  and  around 
Los  Angeles.  The  traveller  and  settler  will  do  well  to 
see  both,  and  decide  for  himself  as  to  relative  merits. 

California,  after  having  been  one  of  the  best  ranges 
for  stock,  is  by  degrees  turning  everywhere,  except  in 
the  mountains,  into  an  agricultural  State.  This  of 
necessity  follows  from  the  greater  profits  of  husbandry 
and  the  diminishing  profits  of  cattle-farming  to  men  of 
small  capital.  So  soon  as  the  soil  becomes  valuable, 
and  the  choicer  portions  are  taken  up  by  individuals, 
the  cattle  are  no  longer  free  to  roam  over  the  country, 
costing  nothing  for  food;. they  must  be  looked  after  and 
herded;  hay  must  be  put  up  for  their  sustenance  in 
winter,  and  a  few  days  in  the  spring  and  autumn  given 
up  by  the  farmer  and  his  boys  are  no  longer  sufficient 
for  guarding  his  interests,  nor  for  keeping  track  of  his 


PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES.  103 

property,  which  are  driven  by  the  enclosing  of  their 
former  pasture-ground  to  wander  further  afield.  In  the 
golden  days  of  old,  which  in  California  are  days  of  mem- 
ory and  not  of  tradition,  the  quantity  of  land  actually 
purchased  or  taken  up,  whether  under  the  laws  or 
merely  held  by  a  sort  of  squatter  right,  would  be  lim- 
ited to  an  occasional  ranch  along  the  fertile  valleys  of 
the  big  rivers,  and  to  enclosures  of  meadows  where  the 
natural  dampness  of  the  soil  or  primitive  irrigation  gave 
large  quantities  of  hay.  The  owners  would  let  their 
horses  and  cattle  run  at  perfect  liberty  to  feed  them- 
selves, and  only  round  them  up  when  it  was  desirable  to 
brand  the  young  calves  and  colts,  or  to  pick  out  horses 
or  fat  steers  for  the  market.  There  are  still  a  few  wide 
ranges,  the  property  of  companies  or  of  individual  mil- 
lionaires. The  land  is,  however,  owned,  and  if  not 
fenced  is  constantly  ridden  over  by  the  boys,  who  drive 
off  outside  cattle,  and  carry  on  a  perpetual  warfare  with 
the  Basque  and  Portuguese  owners  of  bands  of  sheep 
which  have  to  traverse  the  ranges  on  the  way  to  the 
mountains  or  to  the  railroad.  Those  halcyon  days  of 
the  California  stock-raisers  can  never  return.  Land  has 
grown  exceedingly  in  value.  Water  taken  out  of  the 
rivers  is  led  by  large  canals  over  a  wide  tract  of  coun- 
try; emigrants  have  crowded  in,  some  purchasing  small 
lots  of  twenty-five  to  forty  acres  at  high  prices  from  the 
pioneer  farmers  and  far-seeing  land  speculators,  who  by 
ingenious  manipulation  of  the  land  laws,  backed  by  the 
power  of  ready  money,  have  succeeded  in  acquiring  con- 
siderable tracts  at  an  earlier  date. 

So  long  as  a  State  is  but  sparsely  settled,  the  stock 
interest  is  sufficiently  strong  to  make  laws  favoring  that 


104  PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES. 

industry;  but  when  the  numbers  of  farmers  have  in- 
creased, the  law-making,  following  the  balance  of  votes, 
is  taken  into  the  new  hands,  and  one  of  their  first  acts  is 
naturally  in  the  direction  of  safe-guarding  their  pockets. 
Whereas  before  the  land-owner  had  to  protect  his  crop 
from  the  roaming  herds,  subsequently  the  stock-raiser  is 
held  responsible  for  any  damage  caused  by  his  cattle, 
and  therefore  has  to  look  to  this.  Practically  it  is  found 
convenient  by  the  farmers  to  protect  themselves,  and, 
either  in  combination  or  singly,  they  soon  begin  to  en- 
close the  land  where  the  more  valuable  crops  are  grown, 
and  in  the  older  settled  districts  fencing  is  the  order  of 
the  day.  The  cattle  are  thus  shut  out  of  the  water,  and 
lose  the  protection  of  the  copses  and  fringes  of  trees 
which  border  the  valley  streams.  They  leave  the  bot- 
toms and  range  far  back  in  the  mountains,  where  they 
find  small  springs,  and  put  up  with  the  shelter  of  broken 
ground.  Formerly  timber  was  cheap,  and  it  was  mostly 
used  for  fencing,  but  now  barbed  wire  of  different  pat- 
terns is  more  common.  The  wire  generally  consists  of 
two  strands  loosely  twisted,  with  small  knots  of  wire  in 
pairs  at  short  intervals;  each  knot  is  given  one  turn 
round  a  wire,  the  ends  project  half  an  inch,  and  are  cut 
off  diagonally  so  as  to  leave  sharp  points;  thus  at  about 
every  foot  there  are  four  barbs;  it  is  impossible  for  any 
animal  to  squeeze  its  way  between  the  strands  without 
being  torn  in  the  process.  The  laws  of  the  States  pro- 
vide that  the  wires  should  be  at  some  fixed  intervals, 
and  at  certain  heights  from  the  ground;  that  the  stand- 
ards which  carry  them  should  not  be  more  than  a  cer- 
tain distance  apart,  and  that  a  top  rail  or  plank  should 
be  fixed  so  as  to  warn  stock  of  the  presence  of  the  ob- 


PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES.  10$ 

stacle.  These  rules  are  often  not  closely  observed,  and 
it  is  a  common  sight  to  see  valuable  animals  badly  torn 
by  having  unwittingly  at  night  come  in  contact  with 
barbed  wire,  or  by  having  struggled  to  make  their  way 
through  an  easy  place  to  reach  water  or  better  feed. 

The  laws  which  concern  stock,  though  they  differ  in 
the  various  States  and  Territories,  have  been  in  each  case 
made  by  people  who  know  exactly  what  they  want; 
from  the  local  standpoint  they  are  excellent — that  is, 
they  suit  the  majority  and  benefit  the  framers.  This, 
no  doubt,  appears  the  best  ends  of  justice  to  men  strug- 
gling for  wealth  in  a  primitive  society;  the  basis  of 
equity  may  be  neglected,  each  must  look  after  his  own 
interests,  and  if  a  man  does  not  like  the  laws  he  can 
move  off.  If  stock-owners  are  in  power,  they  say  to  the 
small  rancher,  "Fence  your  fields";  if  the  farmers  are 
numerous,  they  turn  on  the  stockman  and  say,  "Herd 
your  cattle,"  while  all  combine  against  the  stranger 
within  their  bounds.  Laws  are  useful  to  those  who 
command  the  market,  and  can  thereby  profit  them- 
selves or  frustrate  the  commercial  competition  of  out- 
siders; at  least,  such  is  the  hearsay  evidence  of  the 
inhabitants,  and  one  of  the  leading  topics  of  their 
newspapers.  It  is  a  common  saying  that  the  rich  man 
may  secure  a  verdict.  With  all  this  fencing  and  irriga- 
tion, the  lawyers  in  California  have  their  hands  full  of 
work,  and  a  harvest  which  lasts  all  the  year  round. 

The  ranchers  living  further  down  a  river  find  the 
volume  of  water  on  which  their  crops  and  stock  depend 
gradually  diminishing  as  the  upper  reaches  are  settled 
and  new  canals  are  laid  out.  Suddenly,  in  some  par- 
ticularly dry  year,  there  is  no  water  at  all  in  the  lower 


106  PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES. 

channel  of  the  river,  the  crops  suffer,  and  the  cattle  must 
be  driven  to  the  hills.  In  the  old  days  the  injured  party 
was  apt  to  start  with  his  shot-gun  and  argue  the  matter  in 
person;  now  the  majesty  of  the  law  favors  the  long  purse 
and  the  man  who  wins  his  case  recovers  just  enough 
to  pay  his  lawyer.  There  is  no  more  fruitful  source  of 
litigation  than  water  rights,  and  in  purchasing  land  the 
buyer  must  be  extremely  careful  to  know  that  his  title 
to  water  and  to  a  fixed  quantity  thereof  is  undoubted, 
otherwise  he  may  be  called  upon  by  his  neighbors  to 
join  in  a  lawsuit  to  protect  their  common  rights,  or  per- 
find  that  he  has  bought  the  privilege  to  fight  single- 
handed  a  large  owner  who  has  strong  influence  in  the 
courts,  and  is  prepared  to  appeal  as  a  pure  matter  of 
business. 

A  great  many  tracts  have  lately  been  laid  out  in  plots 
which,  being  contiguous,  and  in  a  way  connected,  are 
termed  settlements.  These  plots  have  been  a  good  deal 
bought  up  by  continentals  acquainted  with  vine  and 
fruit  cultivation.  Possessed  of  very  little  capital,  and 
accustomed  to  labor  with  their  own  hands,  they  are  in- 
dustrious and  thrifty,  and  are  the  best  present  emigrants 
into  California.  Owning  only  small  parcels  of  land, 
which  are  highly  cultivated,  they  are  building  up  the 
future  prosperity  of  the  State,  which  will  hereafter  de- 
pend less  on  wheat  and  more  on  wine.  There  are  many 
large  vineyards  cultivated  by  Chinese  coolies  which  are 
extremely  well  laid  out  and  carefully  tended.  These 
must  have  cost  great  sums  of  money,  as  the  land  has 
to  be  cleaned  and  levelled.  After  the  vines  are  planted 
they  must  be  watered  and  the  soil  kept  clear  of  weeds; 
in  three  years'  time  you  may  expect  a  crop;  it  is  not  till 


FRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

after  five  years  that  the  garden  is  in  full  bearing.  The 
reports  of  the  success  of  vineyards  are  not  to  be  accepted 
too  literally;  the  fashion  has  been  lately  to  cry  up  viti- 
culture as  a  certain  fortune,  and  fabulous  accounts  are 
told  of  the  present  wealth  of  certain  individuals  realized 
from  small  beginnings.  A  great  deal  of  this  must  be 
discounted  as  the  patriotic  exaggeration  of  Californians; 
the  returns  hinge  of  course  on  the  outlay  of  the  first  few 
5^ears;  of  this  the  chief  burden  is  the  original  cost  of  the 
land.  Those  who  bought  at  an  early  period  of  the  settle- 
ment of  the  State,  or  some  years  back,  when  a  monetary 
crisis  brought  down  the  price  of  improved  estates,  benefit 
pro  tanto.  The  new  settler  must  be  prepared  for  a  large 
difference  in  percentage  between  that  earned  on  estates 
for  which  at  the  outside  $2.50  an  acre  have  been  paid 
and  what  he  may  expect  to  receive  after  laying  out  $25 
to  $40  an  acre. 

Many  are  and  will  be  led  away  to  settle  in  California 
and  go  in  for  fruit-farming  or  vine-growing  by  the 
glittering  stories  which  appear  not  only  in  newspaper 
paragraphs,  but  are  also  solemnly  detailed  in  official  re- 
ports with  all  the  support  of  elaborate  statistics.  The 
cream  in  both  cases  has  been  skimmed  ;  there  are 
already  a  great  number  who  have  started  in  the  busi- 
ness. The  long  delay  before  any  return  can  be  hoped 
for  is  a  great  deterrent  to  men  who  must  live  by  their 
labor,  and  whose  principal  capital  is  their  hands  ;  the 
work  requires  some  experience  and  unremitting  atten- 
tion. The  valleys  where  the  fruit  thrive  best  are  often 
exceedingly  unhealthy  ;  both  in  the  Sacramento  and 
San  Joachin  valleys  there  is  a  local  fever  accompanied 
by  ague,  which  saps  the  strength  and  energy  of  a  man  ; 


108  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

it  may  be  fought  against  for  a  few  seasons,  but  in  the 
end  necessitates  a  complete  absence  for  recovery. 
Whether  due  to  irrigation,  or  to  the  chills  of  evening 
which  follow  on  days  when  the  thermometer  ranges 
high  in  the  sun,  the  fever  is  there.  The  vine-grower's 
work  is  one  of  exposure  ;  there  is  unfortunately  no  such 
process  as  acclimatization  ;  the  old  settler  of  course 
avoids  preventible  risks  and  the  foolish  mistake  of  the 
inexperienced,  but  his  maxims  as  a  rule  have  been 
earned  at  a  costly  price  of  health.  It  is  no  uncommon 
occurrence  to  hear  of  the  farmer,  his  wife,  and  children 
being  down  with  the  fever  together.  A  home  at  the  foot 
of  the  hills  or  near  the  coast  may  not  be  surrounded  by 
soil  as  fertile  as  that  in  the  great  valleys,  but  the  fruit- 
trees  thrive,  and  the  vines  are  said  to  produce  on  the 
mountain-sides  a  better  wine-grape  ;  the  corn  and  oats 
are  superior  in  quality,  if  not  so  abundant  in  bushels  per 
acre  ;  the  climate  is  most  enjoyable  and  healthy,  while 
the  scenery  is  charming,  having  the  merit  in  English 
eyes  of  looking  somewhat  like  England.  In  California 
trees  are  seen  growing  scattered  over  the  country,  while 
east  of  the  Sierras  you  might  say  there  are  no  trees  on 
the  plains  except  where  they  fringe  a  stream. 

When  cultivation  sent  up  the  price  of  land,  owners 
could  no  longer  afford  to  retain  arable  land  as  pasture  ; 
the  alternative  of  sending  cattle  and  sheep  into  the  hills 
for  summer  grazing  has  its  risks,  so  that  small  owners 
of  stock  cattle  have  nearly  disappeared,  and  most  far- 
mers have  for  several  years  past  been  reducing  their 
flocks  of  sheep. 

Among  the  diverse  methods  of  making  and  losing 
money  peculiar  to  America  and  the  far  West,  one  of  the 


PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES.  IOQ 

more  speculative,  at  the  same  time  interesting  from  its 
slightly  adventurous  and  strongly  nomad  existence,  is 
that  of  driving  stock.  The  profit  lies  in  that  golden 
rule  commercial,  buy  in  a  cheap  market,  sell  in  a  dear  ; 
but  between  the  two  transactions  there  is  a  wide  field  to 
traverse.  During  this  interim  money  goes  out  at  a  great 
rate,  and  the  stock  run  various  risks  which  tend  to 
diminish  their  numbers  and  condition.  Your  best  efforts 
are  therefore  made  to  watch  the  herds,  to  prevent  strays, 
to  see  that  they  get  sufficient  food  and  water,  and  not  to 
over-drive  them  ;  and  when  you  succeed  in  selling  your 
herd,  the  price  obtained  may  or  may  not  requite  you  for 
all  your  trouble.  Texas  has  lately  been  a  good  outlet 
for  some  of  the  surplus  stock  of  California  ;  young  sheep 
have  been  bought  and  sent  by  rail  half-way,  and  after- 
wards driven  into  that  State.  For  many  years  pre- 
viously large  bands  have  left  both  the  northern  and 
southern  parts  of  California  for  the  newly  settled  terri- 
tories of  Colorado,  Wyoming,  and  Montana.  The  num- 
bers run  up  to  many  hundreds  of  thousands  each  year. 
The  bands  start  from  every  county,  but  generally  cross 
the  Sierra  Nevada  over  three  main  passes.  The  pass 
north  of  the  Central  Pacific  Railway  is  the  outlet  for 
sheep  from  the  Sacramento  Valley  ;  southeast  of  San 
Francisco  the  sheep  cross  a  little  north  of  the  Yosemite, 
while  those  from  the  direction  of  Los  Angeles  turn  the 
lower  end  of  the  range,  and,  taking  a  northward  direc- 
tion, subsequently  join  the  second  route.  This  second 
trail  joins  the  first  near  the  head-waters  of  the  Hum- 
boldt  River  ;  from  here  the  trail  crosses  a  corner  of  Idaho 
and  Utah,  and  splits  ;  one  road  leads  north  into  the 


IIO  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

western  portion  of  Montana,  the  other  goes  east  into 
Wyoming  and  Colorado. 

The  months  of  January,  February,  and  part  of  March, 
1883,  had  been  very  hot  and  dry;  the  absence  of  usual 
rain  threatened  the  farmers  with  a  drought,  of  which 
one  incident  would  be  the  scarcity  of  grazing,  compell- 
ing all  who  owned  stock,  whether  cattle  or  sheep,  to 
drive  their  herds  into  the  mountains,  or  to  sell.  Either 
of  these  alternatives  is  a  matter  which  admits  of  little 
delay.  If  rain  does  not  fall,  the  sparse  grazing  to  be 
picked  up  in  ordinary  years  along  the  road,  on  which 
animals  must  depend  while  travelling,  has  totally  disap- 
peared after  the  passage  of  a  few  herds.  There  is 
nought  but  dust,  under  which  sheep  for  a  time  will  con- 
tinue to  find  scraps  and  pickings,  though  not  a  blade  is 
observable  to  the  eye  ;  this  of  course  does  not  last  long. 
To  buy  sheep  in  such  a  season  is  a  mere  lottery  ;  rain 
may  fall,  when  your  transaction  turns  up  trumps  ;  rain 
may  hold  off,  when  your  sheep,  unless  singularly  well 
managed,  will  weaken,  and,  once  they  begin  dying,  de- 
part by  hundreds.  Fortunately  for  the  country,  the 
rains,  though  tardy,  fell  at  last  ;  prices  rose  and  fell  to 
the  content  of  all  men  except  the  speculators  of  San 
Francisco,  who  lost  their  stakes  on  the  prospect  of  a  bad 
season.  Though  bad  for  the  country,  the  weather  in 
town  was  all  that  it  should  be  during  a  man's  holiday. 

After  inquiry  in  one  or  two  places  along  the  South 
Californian  Railway,  I  thought  I  might  invest  in  a  herd 
of  sheep  and  drive  them  over  into  the  territories. 
Fresno  seemed  as  good  a  place  as  another,  and  making 
this  town  my  head-quarters,  several  days  were  spent  in 
scouring  the  country  and  inspecting  any  band  of  sheep 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  Ill 

that  was  for  sale  and  likely  to  answer  the  description 
wanted.  The  better-bred  sheep  have  been  mostly  im- 
proved with  Spanish  merinos ;  they  are  small-sized 
sheep,  but  carry  a  heavy  fleece;  they  are  thought  more 
hardy  than  French  merinos,  and  are  close  feeders,  find- 
ing something  to  eat  on  the  most  barren-looking  plains. 
Although  well  in  the  middle  of  April,  the  weather,  ow- 
ing to  the  late  rains,  was  not  settled,  and  while  looking 
at  a  flock  which  had  been  taken  up  into  the  hills  we 
were  caught  in  our  summer  clothes  in  a  storm  which 
blustered  and  snowed  from  noon  till  seven  o'clock, 
drenching  us  to  the  skin.  We  reached  our  little  lodging 
in  the  village  about  eight  o'clock;  supper  was  over ;  it 
was  not  to  be  expected  that  anything  afterwards  would 
be  cooked,  so  we  found  what  comfort  we  could  in  cold 
remnants,  and  blessed  the  independent  spirit  which 
scorns  to  consider  others,  and  makes  him  who  wants  the 
abject  slave  of  him  or  her  who  has.  Money  is  often  not 
a  power  in  this  land  of  monopolies.  There  is  but  one 
meal  cooked  ;  if  you  are  hungry,  pay  and  sit  down  ; 
whether  you  are  a  millionaire  or  a  wood-chopper,  the 
price  is  half-a-dollar  ;  but  you  must  want  what  the  good 
lady  has  got  ready,  or  you  can  go  without.  I  was 
presented  with  my  bill  and  a  request  to  leave  a  fair 
hotel  in  a  good-sized  town,  where  I  had  lodged  several 
clays,  because,  being  late,  yet  within  the  fixed  hours,  I 
could  not  eat  a  lukewarm  supper,  but  went  over  the  way 
to  a  restaurant,  where  I  got  a  couple  of  chops  and  an 
omelet.  I  had  been  dissatisfied  !  was  the  verdict  of  the 
waiter. 

Finally,  a  couple  of  bands  of  sheep,  numbering  about 
5000,  were  bought  and  paid  for.     Two  certificates  that 


112  PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES. 

taxes  for  the  year  had  been  recovered  on  them  were  ob- 
tained from  the  county  office.  These  were  the  most 
informal  documents,  merely  stating  that  Mr.  So-and-so 
had  paid  his  taxes  that  year  ;  nothing  was  added  to  say 
that  the  sheep  were  those  now  my  property,  that  they 
had  any  particular  mark,  and  one  certificate  was  not 
dated.  I  will,  however,  speak  well  of  them,  for  I  was 
once  called  on  to  show  my  tax  receipts,  and  after  some 
very  proper  objections  to  the  informality  of  the  docu- 
ments, they  were  allowed  to  pass.  People  moving  from 
one  neighborhood  to  another  should  carry  their  receipts 
along  with  them,  as  they  are  liable  to  be  stopped  where- 
ever  there  is  a  collector,  and  show  cause  why  they 
should  not  pay  the  county  taxes  on  the  value  of  horses, 
wagon,  and  outfit,  and  something  in  the  shape  of  poll- 
tax  on  each  individual  for  roads. 

It  is  difficult  to  know  how  you  stand  in  this  strange 
Western  country,  which  combines  the  elements  of  the 
wilderness  with  the  civilized  refinements  of  elaborate 
laws  and  taxation.  You  admit  it  certainly  is  wonderful, 
while  you  ask  yourself,  Where  does  the  money  go  ?  You 
see  schools  almost  everywhere  ;  this  rises  to  a  hobby 
with  Americans.  State  education  saves  their  pockets, 
and  in  each  new  settlement  the  people  are  anxious  to 
increase  the  number  of  families  to  the  quota  which  will 
enable  them  to  start  a  school  and  share  in  the  expendi- 
ture of  the  county  revenues.  It  was  very  pleasant  to 
see  the  little  folk  riding  to  school,  sometimes  two  on  a 
horse,  or  walking  with  their  books  and  little  basket.  I 
asked  myself  often  how  the  "  school  ma'am,"  young 
enough  herself,  kept  discipline  among  and  conveyed 
instruction  to  the  mixed  gathering  of  children,  boys  and 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  113 

girls  of  all  ages,  up  to  sixteen  and  seventeen,  in  the 
single  room  of  a  small  village  school.  That  severe 
measures  are  applied  we  can  guess  ;  that  the  parents 
approve  necessary  severity  is  no  more  than  to  be  ex- 
pected from  people  of  sound  common-sense.  I  heard  at 
one  place  sincere  regrets  at  the  loss  of  a  master  who 
had  advanced  to  better  things  ;  he  was  a  great  disciplin- 
arian, and  had  commenced  his  taking  charge  of  an  ob- 
streperous lot,  that  had  run  wild  under  less  firm  hands, 
by  whipping  the  big  girls.  The  story  was  not  told  me, 
but  was  introduced  in  a  little  gossip  over  school  affairs 
among  half-a-dozen  men  smoking  in  the  veranda ;  it 
seemed  to  me  so  improbable  that  I  joined  in,  and  satis- 
fied myself  that  the  story  was  an  accepted  fact.  The 
master  certainly  deserved  all  the  credit  for  his  courage  ; 
one  would  have  liked  to  see  him  do  it,  for  American 
girls  are  not  meek-spirited  ;  conscience,  and  a  feeling  of 
getting  no  more  than  their  deserts,  must  have  over- 
powered that  lot. 

Besides  the  sheep,  it  was  necessary  to  get  an  outfit, 
which  consisted  of  a  wagon  and  pair  of  horses,  two  riding 
ponies,  cooking  and  eating  utensils,  saddles,.harness,  a  few 
tools  and  a  stock  of  food  to  start  with.  When  the  boys 
shall  have  thrown  their  bedding  and  bags  in  the  wagon, 
the  whole  will  make  a  solid  load  for  the  team.  The  wag- 
ons all  over  the  West  are  imported  ;  they  are  very  much 
alike,  whoever  are  the  makers,  and  vary  mainly  in  diam- 
eter of  wheels  and  size  of  axle.  The  driving-seat  has  a 
pair  of  springs,  and  hooks  on  to  the  sides  of  the  wagon- 
box  ;  the  body  is  painted  green,  the  wheels  and  working- 
parts  red.  You  will  see  them  in  dozens  at  most  rail- 
way stations,  lying  in  parts  ;  they  are  quickly  put  to- 


114  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

gether,  and  there  is  a  large  demand  for  them.  They  are 
much  lighter  than  the  ordinary  English  farm-wagon  ; 
but  then  they  are  weak,  and  do  not  last,  which  is  due  to 
the  hastily-dried  wood  of  which  they  are  made.  The 
usage  they  receive  is  rough  ;  they  are  frequently  loaded 
far  beyond  the  maximum  which  even  the  makers  will 
guarantee,  and  rattled  along  with  four  horses  by  a  reck- 
less young  fellow,  caring  neither  for  his  master's  prop- 
erty nor  his  own  neck,  over  a  nominal  road  with  ruts 
and  wash-outs  and  boulders.  But  our  lad  has  driven 
from  the  time  he  could  hold  the  reins;  he  is  at  home  on 
the  box  ;  perched  up  there,  with  one  foot  dangling  over 
the  side  and  resting  on  the  handle  of  the  brake,  he  sends 
the  team  along.  The  wagon  leaps  and  swings  and 
sidles,  steered  as  well  as  may  be  past  the  big  boulders, 
and  checked  through  the  wash-outs  by  a  heavy  pressure 
on  the  brake.  The  journey  is  lively,  and  the  driver  has 
quite  a  time  in  recovering  his  seat  when  thrown  out  by 
a  jolt,  or  slid  to  the  further  end  by  the  sway  in  turning 
a  corner  or  changing  his  ruts.  This  is  something  like 
driving,  and,  as  a  science,  far  ahead  of  any  skill  called 
into  play  in  the  jog-trot  travel  along  our  humdrum  and 
excellent  roads.  When  arrived  at  destination  and  un- 
loaded, the  wagon  is  left  standing  exposed  to  the 
weather  in  front  of  the  empty  shed. 

The  method  of  harnessing  is  quite  different  from  the 
English  plan ;  it  has  the  recommendation  of  simplicity 
and  saving  of  trouble,  which  latter  virtue,  if  not  the  moth- 
er of  this  invention,  has  been  a  kind  patron.  You  first 
pass  the  collar,  which  opens  above,  round  the  neck,  and 
buckle  it ;  this  is  more  practical  than  pushing  the  collar 
over  the  head,  which  would  be  impossible  with  a  backing 


PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES.  11$ 

horse  in  the  open,  and  terrifying  in  the  numberless  cases 
of  half-broken  animals.  The  harness — saddle,  traces' 
and  crupper,  or  breeching — are  then  thrown  on  in  one 
piece,  and  the  hames  are  strapped  at  the  bottom  of  the 
collar.  The  head-gear  is  then  slipped  on,  the  inner  reins 
crossed  and  buckled  to  the  bits  ;  the  pole,  or  tongue  as 
it  is  usually  called,  is  lifted,  and  the  breast-strap  is  buck- 
led, which  suspends  the  cross-bar  to  the  collar ;  the 
belly-band  is  strapped  very  loosely,  and  the  traces 
made  fast.  The  process  is  slow  in  describing,  but  very 
expeditious  in  fact.  In  unhitching,  first  undo  the  traces 
and  belly-band,  unbuckle  the  breast-strap  and  inner 
reins,  take  off  the  headstall,  which  hang  on  the  hames, 
and  make  fast  to  the  ring  by  a  turn  with  the  rein  ;  un- 
buckle the  hame-strap,  and  sweep  the  whole  lot  on  to 
the  ground  in  a  heap,  on  which  place  the  collar ;  the 
horse  is  free.  The  harness  is  very  seldom  cleaned  ;  it 
may  be  greased  once  a  year. 

I  brought  a  tent  along,  but  it  was  not  pitched  more 
than  twice  during  the  whole  journey.  A  large  sheet  of 
canvas,  which  served  as  a  tilt  to  the  wagon  in  rainy 
weather,  was  eminently  serviceable.  On  the  plains, 
where  nothing  stands  higher  than  a  bush,  which  hardly 
gives  shade  to  a  dog  from  the  hot  sun,  this  canvas  was 
stretched  from  the  wagon-bows  to  pegs  in  the  ground, 
and  gave  us  a  little  shelter  while  we  ate  our  dinner  and 
wearied  in  the  long  sultry  hours.  A  mess-box  was  fitted 
into  the  hind-end  of  the  wagon  ;  it  was  fitted  with 
shelves,  and  held  a  supply  of  daily  wants  ;  the  door 
hinged  at  the  bottom,  and  when  lowered  was  propped  by 
a  stick,  and  made  an  excellent  table,  on  which  food  could 
be  prepared  for  cooking,  out  of  the  dust.  But  we  ate  our 


Il6  PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES. 

meals  on  the  ground,  as  there  was  more  room  for  every- 
body ;  besides  at  noon  we  wanted  the  shade  of  the  tilt, 
morning  and  night  the  light  and  solace  of  the  camp- 
fire. 

The  important  affair  still  left  undone  is  to  hire  men. 
Settlers  in  California  have  come  to  employ  Chinese  labor 
almost  exclusively  for  indoor  work,  and  to  a  great  extent 
for  any  outdoor  work  which  is  continuous ;  not,  as  one 
might  suppose,  that  there  is  an  economy  therein, — I 
should  almost  think  the  contrary.  The  Chinaman  is  a 
thoroughly  self-satisfied  being;  he  considers  his  work 
"all  same  as  'Melican,"  and  lets  you  know  that  he  is  not 
to  be  hired  for  less  than  white  man's  wages.  With  due 
regard  to  the  present  spirit  of  tolerance  which  checks 
any  blame,  lest  we  err  from  insufficient  knowledge,  in 
canvassing  foreign  nations,  I  would  assert  that  Chinese 
labor  is  neither  in  quantity  nor  quality  equal  to  that  of 
the  average  European.  All  over  the  world  the  Chinaman 
is  a  copyist  ;  he  invents  nothing  and  improves  nothing  ; 
his  aim  is  to  produce  a  fac-simile,  he  can  never  excel. 
Notwithstanding  this  inferiority,  he  is  preferred  because 
he  is  more  to  be  depended  on,  mainly  in  the  matter  of 
sobriety.  As  a  household  servant  he  looks  clean,  is 
fairly  willing,  but  far  behind  the  class  of  domestic  in 
European  houses  on  the  other  side  of  the  Pacific.  The 
American  atmosphere  of  independence  is  certainly  inim- 
ical to  good  service  ;  it  has  breathed  into  Johnny  the 
spirit  of  equality,  and  makes  him  careless  and  bump- 
tious ;  nevertheless  he  has  a  solid  footing  in  California, 
and  you  find  a  smutty,  yellow-faced  cook  in  small  farm- 
houses, where  elsewhere  in  the  States  the  wife  and 
daughters  do  the  household  work.  For  what  good  pur- 


PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES.  117 

pose  this  assistance  sets  the  women  free  is  not  easy  to 
guess  ;  rocking  the  chairs  seems  the  most  arduous  duty 
in  many  Californian  homes,  and  it  is  one  which  is  faith- 
fully carried  out. 

For  riding,  driving,  and  the  heavy  work  during  a  few 
weeks'  harvesting,  Americans  cannot  be  beaten.  Self- 
reliance  is  their  prominent  characteristic ;  every  man 
will  undertake  any  class  of  work  without  any  previous 
training,  and  with  the  greatest  self-assurance  will  pro- 
ceed to  lose  your  sheep,  smash  your  machinery,  or  spoil 
your  crop,  for  thirty  dollars  wages  and  all  found.  "  You 
cannot  teach  him  anything,"  is  a  common  saying  among 
the  boys,  which  hits  off  very  well  the  exaggeration  of  a 
great  good  point ;  for  to  this  self-reliance  is  due  a  great 
deal  of  the  wonderful  advances  in  America.  It  induces 
the  men  to  widen  their  experiences,  to  turn  their  hands 
to  all  trades,  and  to  start  off  on  the  longest  journeys, 
trusting  in  themselves  to  pull  through.  One  result  could 
hardly  be  avoided — that  is,  the  number  of  indifferent 
workmen  all  over  the  West.  A  boy  of  eighteen  attaches 
himself,  say  to  a  blacksmith,  wheelwright,  and  wagon 
repairer;  this  trade  would  inmost  countries  require  at 
least  a  couple  of  years'  apprenticeship.  Not  so  with  our 
intelligent  citizen  ;  after  six  months  he  will  try  to  boss 
the  shop,  or  start  an  independent  concern  in  a  neighbor- 
ing town. 

This  would  not  answer  in  the  East,  but  forasmuch  as 
the  numbers  of  people  settling  out  West  are  continually 
demanding  a  proportionate  increase  of  the  trades,  the 
young  fellow  will  probably  hire  an  industrious  Ger- 
man or  Swede  who  does  know  the  business,  and  the 
chances  are  the  trade  thrives.  If  he  is  now  steady  he  is 


Il8  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

nearly  bound  to  get  on.  After  a  few  years  he  marries, 
runs  for  the  county  constable,  lends  his  surplus  money 
out  at  24  per  cent,  and  will  have  in  the  mean  time  locat- 
ed a  ranch  and  bought  cattle.  Before  he  is  forty  years 
old  he  has  sold  his  business,  has  been  for  some  time  liv- 
ing on  his  farm,  and  is  worth— -well,  it  is  hard  to  say — 
there  is  one  sum  on  which  he  is  assessed  for  taxes, 
another  and  considerably  higher  one  which  sounds 
better  in  conversation. 

Unfortunately  whiskey  bars  the  road  to  prosperity. 
The  career  of  the  steady  and  lucky  apprentice,  though 
not  unfrequent,  is  not  the  rule.  In  a  country  where 
there  are  no  amusements,  sociableness  is  found  at  the 
saloon  ;  whiskey  and  gambling  are  the  only  possible  ex- 
citement. A  steady  man  sets  up  for  himself  in  business; 
among  the  remnant  you  must  select  your  help.  An 
American  servant  will  work  satisfactorily  for  a  month  or 
two,  and  has  some  little  money  in  hand  ;  he  has  been 
absolutely  abstemious  all  this  time.  Suddenly  one  day 
he  is  not  at  his  work,  and,  to  your  great  inconvenience 
and  annoyance,  you  hear  of  him  on  a  spree  in  the  nearest 
town,  or  perhaps  in  the  lock-up.  By-and-by  he  returns. 
He  is  neither  bold-faced  nor  penitent ;  what  he  has  done 
concerns  himself,  and  is  a  matter  not  for  other  people's 
criticism.  He  knows  he  may  have  to  go  ;  that  is  your 
right,  which  he  would  not  for  a  moment  discuss.  He 
receives  the  balance  due  to  him,  and  invites  you  to  take 
a  drink.  There  is,  indeed,  a  certain  dignity  in  his 
behavior,  if  one  can  apply  the  word  to  so  small  a 
transaction. 

In  some  cases  the  best-intentioned  man,  somewhat 
to  his  regret,  if  he  has  any  objective  feeling  in  the 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  1 19 

matter,  is  liable  to  place  his  employer's  property  in  a 
risk  which  no  temptation  but  that  of  whiskey  would 
induce  him  to  allow.  He  may  have  been  sent  out  in 
charge  of  a  herd  of  sheep,  a  work  he  understands  and 
does  not  dislike;  it  is  a  solitary  but  not  an  arduous  life; 
there  is  plenty  of  grass,  and  no  great  distance  to  travel 
to  and  from  his  hut;  he  has  a  couple  of  good  dogs. 
His  working-hours  are  spent  sitting  or  sleeping  in  the 
sun  or  shade;  he  has  leisure  to  cook,  and,  if  he  pleases, 
to  read.  The  foreman  comes  round  once  a  week  to  re- 
plenish supplies,  and  reports  that  the  sheep  are  well 
looked  after;  you  feel  at  peace,  and,  in  this  happy  frame 
of  mind,  resolve  that  to  preserve  this  treasure  you  will 
increase  his  wages,  possibly  give  him  an  interest  in  the 
herd  of  which  he  has  taken  charge.  But  the  day  of 
reckoning  comes;  a  passer-by  informs  you  that  Bill  or 
Jack  has  been  drunk  the  last  two  days  and  treating  all 
comers  at  some  roadside  saloon  twenty  miles  from  his 
range.  Your  first  feeling  is  concern  for  your  property, 
but  nearly  simultaneously  you  experience  an  emotion  of 
annoyance  that  an  otherwise  good  man,  who  might  get 
on,  is  so  weak  before  the  blandishments  of  bad  whiskey. 
You  mount  and  ride  out,  to  find  matters  as  they  have 
been  told  you.  Bill,  if  not  asleep,  is  in  great  good 
humor.  "  The  sheep  are  all  right — all  right — somewhere 
on  the  range;  come  and  have  a  drink."  In  the  mean 
while  two  or  three  thousand  head,  with  no  one  to  look 
after  them,  are  liable  to  wander  into  a  neighbor's  young 
crops,  or  to  scatter  themselves  in  bunches  over  the  hill- 
tops. You  are  fortunate  if  you  can  spare  a  man  in  this 
emergency.  Maybe  Bill  has  had  his  drink;  he  is  not 


I2O  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

mean,  and  will  offer  to  return  and  collect  the  band 
while  you  ride  to  town  for  his  substitute. 

In  America  there  is  neither  giving  nor  receiving  even 
so  much  as  a  week's  notice.  If  you  offend  your  man  he 
asks  you  to  settle,  as  he  guesses  he  will  quit;  on  the 
other  hand,  if  he  annoys  you,  you  are  at  liberty  to  be 
rid  of  him  at  once.  The  rule  is  a  good  one;  the  circum- 
stances of  the  West  make  it  no  hardship  on  the  working 
man;  the  market  is  still  very  much  in  his  hands.  The 
employer  occasionally  has  a  rough  time.  As  a  class 
these  may  appear  to  their  hands  exacting,  principally 
those  who  have  come  from  among  the  laborers  them- 
selves. Such  a  man  will  rise  an  hour  earlier  if  he  has 
hired  help,  but  even  he  will,  I  fear,  fail  in  getting  his 
money's  worth. 

No  wonder,  then,  that  so  many  employ  Chinese;  the 
latter,  having  been  taught  to  work,  if  they  like  their  situ- 
ation can  be  relied  on.  You  need  fear  no  jinks,  but  the 
work  must  be  more  watched.  They  have  no  great  in- 
vention, their  labor  is  mechanical  and  routine,  an  emer- 
gency finds  them  unprepared;  they  will  also  be  careless 
and  dirty,  and  even  sometimes  maltreat  the  stock.  The 
balance  of  good  and  evil  is,  however,  in  their  favor;  men 
who  have  employed  Chinese  successfully  quickly  make 
up  their  minds  to  use  them  exclusively.  It  does  not  an- 
swer to  try  to  work  with  both  races;  the  two  colors  will 
not  mix  pleasantly,  though  it  does  happen,  as  for  instance 
in  a  woollen  factory  in  San  Francisco  white  men  and  girls 
were  working  together  with  Chinese  at  different  looms 
in  the  same  room.  If  Americans  are  driven  out  of  the 
labor  market,  it  is  owing  to  their  own  intemperate  freaks. 

The  general  sample  of  laborer  in  California  is  lowered 


PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES.  121 

by  the  tendency  of  all  vagrant  and  idle  good-for-noth- 
ings to  go  West.  The  loafer's  paradise  of  four  dollars 
a  day  with  little  to  do  recedes  towards  the  setting  sun. 
Tired  of  steady  work,  he  packs  his  traps,  and  starts  for 
some  large  town  in  the  next  State.  Impelled  by  the 
spur  of  want,  he  takes  an  odd  job,  and  for  some  time 
lives  in  a  hand-to-mouth  style.  This  does  not  fulfil  his 
dream,  hearsay  tells  of  better  things  out  West.  He  sells 
his  kit  and  blankets,  and  reaches  some  mining  district 
where  good  wages  are  going.  Here  the  work  is  too  hard 
to  please,  so,  having  saved  enough  to  pay  for  a  railway 
ticket,  off  he  goes  again.  Another  trial,  and  another 
disappointment.  He  is  now  afoot,  and,  with  some  simi- 
lar companion,  trudges  long  marches,  eking  out  his  few 
dollars  by  small  jobs,  suffering  actually  hardship  and 
semi-starvation,  and  working  half  as  much  again  in  get- 
ting over  the  ground  as  would  earn  him  a  good  living  at 
any  of  his  halting-places.  At  last  he  reaches  California, 
which  still  retains  some  of  the  nimbus  which  shone 
around  it  in  the  glorious  days  which  followed  '49.  Times 
have  really  altered;  he  finds  himself  facing  the  melan- 
choly fact  that  wages  are  not  so  high  here  as  they  were 
several  hundred  miles  back,  that  the  golden  sun  sets  in 
the  ocean  still  further  West. 

Among  such  men  and  those  who  bid  for  their  votes, 
or  who  find  in  them  customers  for  their  goods,  their 
whiskey,  or  newspapers,  there  is  naturally  a  great  out- 
cry. The  Chinaman  is  underbidding  the  white  man;  he 
helps  the  monopolists  to  grind  the  faces  of  the  poor;  he 
keeps  down  wages;  he  impoverishes  the  country  by  tak- 
ing his  earnings  out  of  it;  he  is  not  a  citizen, — added  to 
a  string  of  stock  complaints  which  a  good  memory  and 


122  PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES. 

the  pleasure  of  hearing  himself  speak  enables  most 
Americans  to  declaim.  A  law  has  been  passed  to  limit 
further  Chinese  emigrants  to  those  who  are  traders,  or 
had  previously  been  domiciled  in  America;  but  the 
"  heathen  Chinee"  is  too  subtle;  they  come  to  San  Fran- 
cisco provided  by  the  Chinese  authorities  with  traders' 
certificates  that  are  manifestly  irregular,  while  numbers 
are  said  to  slip  over  the  border  from  the  Canadian  prov- 
inces. Any  one  residing  in  California  will  readily  sym- 
pathize with  the  people,  who  find  their  beautiful  State 
overrun  by  this  alien  race,  whose  customs  will  not  as- 
similate, whose  uncouth  appearance  and  habits  on  a 
lower  level,  joined  to  arrogance  and  impertinence  where 
they  can  display  them,  naturally  awaken  prejudice 
This  feeling  is  of  course  wrong  viewed  from  the  heights 
of  philanthropy,  so  nothing  can  be  easier  than  in  a  New 
England  home  to  dilate  on  the  injustice  to  the  Chinese, 
and  the  reversal  of  America's  grand  title  to  be  a  land  of 
freedom  to  all.  If  you  cannot  throw  off  this  ill-feeling, 
/  but  can  get  rid  of  the  object  of  your  prejudice,  it  is 
human  to  settle  the  matter  comfortably  to  suit  yourself. 
The  absence  of  Chinese  coolies,  and  consequent  loss  of 
labor,  would  certainly  be  a  detriment  to  the  State  in  de- 
laying its  present  rate  of  expansion;  but  the  Americans 
have  gone  fast  enough, — it  would  be  no  harm  to  hold 
their  breath  and  take  stock,  and  see  what  sort  of  coun- 
try, with  what  real  development  and  debts,  they  mean 
to  hand  down  to  their  children.  The  desire  to  exclude 
the  Chinese  race  stands  quite  alone;  there  are  many 
resident  strangers,  French,  English,  and  German,  in  the 
higher  walks  of  commerce,  whose  purpose  is  to  make  a 
pile  and  withdraw;  and  among  the  laboring  classes. 


PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES.  123 

Portuguese,  Basques,  Italians,  and  others  practise  the 
same  habits  as  those  wherein  the  Chinese  offend — 
namely,  they  live  frugally  and  save  their  money,  spend- 
ing as  little  as  possible  in  the  country,  and  eventually 
taking  out  so  much  as  they  can. 

The  American  does  not  like  foreigners,  but  he  tolerates 
their  presence  if  they  will  follow  his  example  and  adopt 
his  institutions;  but  to  be  a  separatist,  to  live  in  small  na- 
tional colonies,  to  appear  or  behave  differently  to  the 
accredited  type,  not  to  care  for  local  topics  or  the  poli- 
tics of  the  saloon — these  are  all  crimes  which  the  Ameri- 
can cannot  allow.  You  are  welcomed  to  the  country, 
but  you  must  "  fuse"  and  learn  to  think  and  act  as  a 
good  American.  I  would  illustrate  this  by  referring  to 
the  local  feelings  awakened  by  the  Mormons  in  the  ter- 
ritories through  which  they  have  spread,  and  the  general 
attitude  of  Americans  towards  negroes  all  through  the 
West.  The  former  are  men  of  the  same  race,  and  pre- 
cisely alike  in  every  way  to  the  mass  of  Western  settlers, 
but  from  whom  they  hold  themselves  aloof  and  quite 
distinct  under  an  idea  of  spiritual  selection;  they  are 
heartily  abused,  and  every  effort  is  made  to  injure 
them.  The  negroes,  who  compete  with  the  white  man 
in  every  class  of  trade  and  work,  now  number  nearly 
one  eighth  of  the  whole  population,  and  if  emigration 
from  Europe  slackened  they  would  increase  more  rapid- 
ly than  the  whites.  They  are  an  alien  race,  but  they  are 
adaptive,  and  copy  the  Americans  in  their  ideas,  religion, 
dress,  food,  language,  and  prejudices.  There  is  no 
strong  antipathy  to  the  negro  which  would  wish  to  send 
him  back  to  his  native  Africa,  though  I  doubt  not  but 
this  will  follow. 


124  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

It  seems  impossible  for  people  on  the  spot  to  be  ruled 
by  abstract  ideas  of  equity.  If  fair  play  to  the  stranger 
means  a  hardship  to  your  neighbor,  and  may  prove  a 
cruel  disadvantage  to  your  children,  are  you  then  to  do 
right  and  let  the  skies  fall  ?  Which  is  right  ?  If  by  an 
inevitable  law  the  weaker  perish  and  the  strong  survive, 
why  give  points  to  the  adversary,  and,  in  carrying  out 
some  theoretical  doctrine  of  right,  make  the  battle  more 
difficult  for  men  of  your  kind  ?  Some  such  arguments 
may  apply  to  this  race  antagonism  in  California.  The 
Americans  are  a  practical  people,  and  go  straight  where 
their  interests  are  concerned.  They  will  undoubtedly 
settle  the  question  to  their  own  ultimate  satisfaction,  and 
to  the  advantage  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  races. 

In  choosing  sheep-herders,  the  best  will  be  found 
among  the  Mexicans,  Basques,  or  Portuguese.  These 
two  latter  do  not,  as  a  rule,  take  service  except  with 
their  own  people  ;  their  aim  is  ultimately  to  possess 
a  share  in  the  herds,  and  to  rise  to  the  position  of 
owners.  The  Mexicans  enter  into  service  willingly 
enough,  but  dislike  to  leave  the  temperate  parts  of 
California.  It  is  a  great  advantage  when  employing 
them  to  be  able  to  talk  Spanish.  They  can  seldom  be 
persuaded  to  join  a  drive  which  takes  them  off  into 
unknown  regions ;  they  are  profoundly  ignorant  of  the 
geography  of  the  world  beyond  their  districts.  There 
is,  besides,  little  inducement  to  travel  with  stock  for  good 
men,  who  are  sure  of  employment  locally  ;  they  have  to 
undergo  hard  work,  exposure,  and  some  privation  ;  and 
for  what  result  ?  None  !  Every  cent  a  man  can  earn 
above  ordinary  Californian  wages  will  go  to  pay  his  rail- 
way fare,  even  by  emigrant  train,  on  his  return  to  Cali- 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  12$ 

fornia.  The  rates  over  the  Central  Pacific  Railway  are 
excessive,  and  a  severe  tax  on  commerce  and  industry. 

The  herd  required  about  six  men  besides  a  cook,  an 
important  member  of  the  outfit.  Rather  a  scratch  lot 
were  got  together,  mostly  men  whose  purses  had  run 
dry,  or  who  wished  to  leave  the  district  for  private 
reasons.  It  was  impossible  to  find  any  one  fitted  for 
the  post  of  foreman  ;  not  from  backwardness  of  persons 
ready  to  take  the  part  who  are  satisfied  that  they  will 
"fill  the  bill";  but  if  you  exact  a  fair  amount  of 
previous  experience,  and  some  knowledge  of  the  road, 
it  is  hardly  worth  while  trying.  Besides,  the  men  never 
get  on  well  with  a  foreman  ;  each  one  is  pleased  to 
think  that  he  could  "  boss  the  job"  much  better,  and  will 
proceed  to  try  for  his  own  way.  It  is  almost  better  in 
every  case  to  get  the  best  men  available  and  manage 
the  business  yourself.  You  will  be  sure  of  your  own 
interest  then  being  considered  first,  which  would  not  be 
the  case  otherwise. 

Some  twelve  or  thirteen  hundred  sheep  had  not  been 
clipped  that  spring  (in  California  the  sheep  are  shorn 
twice  a  year)  ;  it  was  necessary  to  take  their  wool  off 
before  starting.  The  band  was  driven  out  on  to  a 
barren  plain,  where  a  few  tumble-down  open  sheds 
guided  you  to  the  shearing  corral.  The  first  thing  to 
do  was  to  go  round  and  rearrange  panels,  make  fast  ties 
and  block  holes,  so  as  to  keep  the  sheep  in  the  pens.  A 
mixed  band  of  Mexicans  and  Chinese  did  the  shearing, 
each  man  careful  not  to  catch  any  sheep  which  on 
account  of  size  or  wool  was  likely  to  prove  slightly  more 
troublesome.  A  badly  boarded  floor  was  all  the  men 
worked  upon  ;  the  fleeces,  having  been  rolled  up  and 


126  PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES. 

tied,  were  thrown  outside.  A  strong  wind,  bringing 
clouds  of  dust,  was  blowing  the  whole  time,  and  scat- 
tered tufts  of  wool  all  over  the  place  ;  at  least  five  per 
cent  of  the  wool  must  be  lost  in  this  careless,  haphazard 
style  of  neglecting  appliances  and  saving  in  first  outlay. 
The  fleeces  were  thrown  into  a  long  bag  hung  on  a 
stand,  and  were  filled  in  by  stamping  on  them;  the  bags 
are  then  carried  to  the  railway,  either  sold  to  brokers  or 
shipped  to  an  agent  in  San  Francisco. 

About  the  23d  April  preliminaries  were  completed, 
and  the  herd  started  on  the  road,  which  lay  at  first  along 
the  railway  running  through  the  San  Joachin  valley. 
The  sheep  each  morning  were  divided  into  two  bands, 
and  kept  about  half  a  mile  apart.  As  the  land  is  all 
owned,  the  drover  has  no  right  beyond  the  width  of  sixty 
feet.  Where  there  are  no  fences  it  is  futile  to  attempt 
to  keep  a  large  flock  within  such  narrow  limits.  The 
sheep  spread  across  some  two  hundred  yards,  and  so 
long  as  they  are  kept  going  it  is  hoped  that  the  land- 
holders, most  of  whom  are  owners  of  sheep  which  have 
to  be  travelled  twice  a  year,  will  not  object.  As  a  rule 
the  large  owners  used  not  to  trouble  travelling  bands 
much ;  but  a  small  man,  whose  land  borders  the  road, 
mounts  his  horse  on  the  first  sight  of  the  column  of  dust 
which  announces  the  approach  of  a  band  of  sheep  and 
rides  to  meet  it.  He  is  all  on  the  fight;  first  he  wants 
you  to  go  back,  then  to  go  round,  and  last  to  manage 
the  herd  as  you  might  a  battalion  of  soldiers,  and  march 
them  past  his  grazing  ground  in  a  solid  pack,  on  a  nar- 
row strip  of  road.  It  was  a  lucky  day's  travel  in  which 
you  had  not  to  go  through  some  annoyance  and  jaw. 

The  land-owners  are  quite  right  in  objecting  ;  a  band 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  \2f 

of  sheep  passing  by  does  no  good,  that  is  certain  ; 
whether  they  do  harm  I  do  not  know,  unless  a  very 
large  number  of  bands  are  travelling.  In  places  where 
fencing  has  been  put  up,  leaving  the  regulation  width 
of  road,  there  is  a  good  deal  of  grazing  to  be  picked  up 
in  a  day's  journey  ;  the  residents,  however,  generally  try 
to  clear  this  off  early  in  the  year,  and  turn  their  stock 
on  to  the  road  to  save  their  pastures.  Each  year  driving 
becomes  more  difficult,  grazing  increases  in  value,  the 
fields  are  fenced  ;  land  is  also  more  broken  up.  It  would 
be  difficult  to  take  sheep  on  the  drive,  close  along  green 
crops,  without  their  breaking  into  them.  Here  troubles 
begin  with  the  farmer's  opportunity  of  claiming  com- 
pensation. As  a  matter  in  which  he  may  have  to  go  to 
law,  he  must  exaggerate  the  damage.  He  will  always 
find  neighborly  friends  who  will  swear  to  his  complaint, 
and  assess  the  loss  arising  from  a  few  hundred  sheep 
crossing  a  corner  of  his  field  at  the  price  of  a  crop  from 
twenty  acres  of  wheat.  Of  course  to  the  drover  it  would 
be  a  great  trouble  to  come  back  a  month  hence,  bring 
his  witnesses,  and  fight  the  case  in  a  hostile  court  ;  his 
delays  may  be  endless,  as  Americans  are  past-masters  of 
chicane  ;  he  is  therefore  bound  to  compromise  the  mat- 
ter to  the  least  disadvantage  he  can. 

Before  taking  the  sheep  out  of  the  country  it  was  neces- 
sary to  dip  them  to  check  scab  ;  the  Californians  are  not 
over-careful  in  eradicating  this  disease.  I  did  not  hear 
of  any  practical  system,  as  in  Australia,  for  dealing  with 
the  malady,  or  for  detecting  its  presence  in  certain  flocks, 
and  compelling  the  owners  to  effect  a  cure.  Most  owners 
dip  their  sheep  at  least  once  a  year,  after  shearing,  but 
hardly  in  any  band  you  pass  can  you  omit  noticing 


128  PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES 

marks  of  the  disease  on  some  of  the  sheep.  In  some 
of  the  territories  laws  have  been  passed,  and  scab  in- 
spectors appointed.  The  attention  of  the  latter  is 
directed  mainly  to  overhauling  bands  passing  through  ; 
provision  is  generally  made  by  the  county  or  State  to  pay 
these  individuals.  I  only  met  one  on  the  journey,  who 
asked  for  certain  fees,  on  which  afterwards  he  did  not 
insist,  owing,  I  thought,  to  the  presence  in  camp  of 
another  man  belonging  to  that' part  of  the -country.  I 
may  have  been  wrong,  but  I  was  suspicious  at  the  time. 
The  use  of  a  dipping-station  was  offered  me  :  to  reach 
it  the  band  was  turned  off  the  main  road  and  driven 
towards  the  foot-hills.  The  principal  part  of  such 
buildings  is  a  trough  lined  with  wood,  twenty  to  thirty 
feet  long,  five  feet  deep,  and  two-and-a-half  or  thre'e  feet 
wide  at  the  top.  This  is  sunk  in  the  ground.  At  one 
end  is  a  shed  roofed  over  to  shelter  the  men  at  work  ; 
the  floor  is  boarded,  and  has  a  slight  slope  towards  the 
trough.  At  the  other  end  the  sheep  walk  out  of  the 
trough  by  an  inclined  plank  on  to  the  dripping  platform, 
which  is  divided  into  pens.  This  is  also  boarded,  so  that 
the  water  which  runs  out  of  the  fleece  may  fall  back  into 
the  trough,  and  save  material.  At  either  end  are  en- 
closures to  hold  the  sheep  which  are  being  worked  ;  iron 
tanks  for  heating  water  stand  conveniently  near,  as  with 
some  of  the  scab-curing  ingredients  hot  water  must  be 
used.  The  number  of  the  sheep  which  can  be  handled 
in  a  morning  are  folded  in  a  large  inclosure ;  smaller 
bunches  are  cut  off  and  penned  up  near  the  shed,  which 
itself  will  hold  some  thirty  or  forty  sheep.  So  many  are 
driven  in  as  to  crowd  the  place  tightly  ;  the  gate  is  shut, 
and  two  men  step  in,  standing  near  the  outlet  which 


PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES.  I2Q 

overhangs  the  trough.  The  sheep  naturally  turn  their 
heads  away,  and  press  more  closely  to  the  upper  side. 
This  is  just  what  is  wanted.  The  men  catch  them  one 
by  one  by  the  hind-leg,  with  a  good  pull  and  final  jerk 
drag  each  one  towards  the  trough,  turn  him  round,  and 
tumble  him  head  first  into  the  fluid.  It  is  rough  work, 
but  gets  through  the  business  at  a  fair  pace,  which  is 
always  good  enough  out  West. 

When  properly  done  the  sheep  souses  into  the  trough 
head  first,  and  comes  up  turned  in  the  proper  direction. 
Seeing  the  others  swimming  in  front,  he  follows,  and 
walks  up  the  sloping  plank  on  to  the  dripping  platform. 
Sometimes  it  happens  that  a  sheep  will  fall  in  backwards, 
and  floats  feet  up  in  the  air,  feeling  no  doubt  particu- 
larly bad  with  the  composition  of  the  dip,  half  chemical, 
half  turbid  with  grease  and  mud  out  of  the  fleeces,  filling 
his  mouth  and  nostrils.  A  man  stands  alongside  the 
trough  armed  with  a  long  pole  with  a  crutch  at  one  end  ; 
it  is  his  duty  to  restore  these  acrobats  right  side  up,  to 
push  the  heads  of  those  not  properly  wetted  under  water, 
and  to  keep  the  line  of  bathers  moving  on.  When  one 
compartment  of  the  dripping  platform  is  full,  a  gate  is 
shut,  and  while  the  alternate  pen  is  filling,  the  former 
lot  of  sheep  stand  and  shake  themselves,  sneeze,  cough, 
and  generally  strive  to  recover  their  mental  equilibrium. 
Soon  their  turn  arrives  to  be  let  out  into  the  larger  en- 
closure. Here  they  ought  to  remain  till  nearly  dry,  as 
the  dipping  mixtures  are  more  or  less  poisonous,  and 
should  not  be  scattered  on  the  feeding-ground,  as  would 
happen  from  still  wet  fleeces. 

The  dip  mostly  used   in   lime  and   sulphur,  which   is 
effective  in  killing  scab,  but  makes  the  wool  brittle;   it 


I3O  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

has  the  merit  of  cheapness.  A  decoction  of  tobacco  and 
sulphur  is  also  common.  Both  of  these  have  to  be  ap- 
plied with  hot  water,  which  is  a  great  additional  trouble, 
as  the  appliances  at  most  dipping-stations  are  of  the 
rudest.  A  weak  solution  of  carbolic  acid  and  a  patent 
Australian  chemical  are  also  used  for  dipping;  these  can 
be  mixed  in  cold  water.  Some  men  put  their  sheep 
through  the  natural  hot  mineral  waters  which  abound  in 
the  West.  Each  farmer  will  swear  by  his  own  particular 
spring.  It  cures  the  scab  in  sheep,  removes  corns  and 
rheumatism  in  men,  and  is  efficacious  universally;  he 
nurses  a  pleasant  dream  that  some  day  its  virtues  will 
be  apparent  to  an  Eastern  capitalist  with  money  to  de- 
velop it,  and  to  create  an  establishment  like  the  White 
Sulphur  Springs,  with  a  vista  of  shares,  purchase-money 
and  a  snug  monopoly  for  the  rest  of  his  days. 

There  is  nothing  the  Western  man  calls  out  against 
more  than  he  does  against  monopolies,  yet  five  minutes 
after  a  tirade,  in  which  excellent  principles  have  been 
laid  down,  and  the  injury  to  the  country  and  its  citizens 
dwelt  upon  from  railways,  holders  of  large  land  tracts, 
owners  of  bonanza  mines,  and  millionaires  generally,  you 
find  that  this  ardent  Republican  has  either  a  quartz  ledge 
or  a  water  privilege  which  he  is  waiting  for  some  Eastern 
capitalist  to  develop,  or  that  he  may  be  an  arrant  mo- 
nopolist himself  in  a  small  way,  having  secured  from  the 
county  the  right  to  levy  tolls  on  a  road  which  has  not 
cost  him  twenty  days'  labor,  or  he  has  fenced  in  some 
natural  curiosity,  or  has  enclosed  the  only  water  to  be 
met  along  twenty^  miles  of  road  travelled  years  before  he 
settled  in  the  district.  In  truth,  everywhere  the  public 
good  is  sacrificed  to  the  interest  of  individuals. 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  131 

About  twelve  o'clock  the  sheep  penned  in  the  morning 
are  through;  the  men  knock  off  for  dinner.  Although 
there  are  three  reliefs  in  plunging  the  sheep  into  the  dip, 
it  has  been  hard  work.  The  sun  is  very  bright  and  hot, 
the  air  is  close  inside  the  shed.  The  work  of  driving  the 
sheep  into  compact  bunches  in  the  pens  is  tedious,  and 
when  you  have  jerked  forty  or  fifty  sheep  by  the  hind- 
leg  you  find  yourself  winded,  and  your  back  aching.  Our 
only  interruption  was  an  inroad  from  a  coachful  of 
tourists,  who  had  just  visited  the  Yosemite.  They  were 
mostly  men,  and  were  admiring  the  beauties  of  nature, 
while  forming  court  to  a  bright  and  fair  New  Englander. 
The  latter's  curiosity  brought  the  whole  posse  upon  us; 
the  men  loftily  stared  at  the  work;  a  couple  of  English- 
men condescendingly  asked  statistical  questions.  The 
girl  pitied  the  sheep  for  a  while,  saying,  "  Poor  things," 
and  "What  a  shame!"  But  after  watching  a  few  come 
up  feet  first,  sneezing  and  choking  in  the  yellow  soup, 
she  could  not  prevent  herself  from  a  genuine  pleasant 
laugh.  It  was  good  to  see  and  hear;  it  was  the  last 
echo  of  softening  influence  which  remained  in  our  mem- 
ory for  six  long  months.  The  great  want  in  the  prairies 
is  the  right  kind  of  girls. 

Reverting  to  our  uninteresting  selves,  we  are  all  red- 
hot  and  weary,  perspiring,  dusty,  and  splashed  with  slops 
of  the  dip.  All  we  can  find  time  for  is  to  wash  our  hands 
and  faces,  and  the  dinner  is  served:  mutton-chops,  bread, 
a  can  of  tomatoes,  and  tea.  It  is  not  luxurious.  There 
is  hardly  time  for  a  quiet  smoke  when  we  see  the  dust  of 
the  afternoon  band  approaching;  we  must  be  off  to  work 
again;  it  must  be  done  out  of  hand,  for,  as  a  rule,  while 
the  sheep  are  lingering  round  the  dipping-station  they 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  133 

are  poorly  fed.  The  new  arrivals  are  corralled,  while 
those  operated  on  in  the  morning  are  driven  out  to  the 
feeding-ground.  It  is  a  hard  lot,  that  of  the  sheep  during 
this  time  of  year;  they  are  caught,  sheared,  dipped,  and 
branded,  necessitating  a  lot  of  driving,  hustling,  starv- 
ing, and  shutting  in  pens;  they  suffer  under  the  process, 
and  lose  materially  in  condition.  If  the  owner  has  a 
limited  range,  the  sheep  must  be  taken  up  into  the  hills 
for  the  summer;  here  is  more  tramping  and  travelling 
along  dusty  roads,  with  a  burning  sun  and  poor  feed. 

The  afternoon's  work  is  the  same  as  in  the  morning, 
but  the  sheep  put  through  are  left  in  the  enclosure  all 
night,  as  by  the  time  we  have  done  work  it  is  too  late  to 
take  them  out.  They  make  a  bad  use  of  their  opportu- 
nity by  pushing  the  cover  off  one  of  the  boxes,  and  tear- 
ing open  some  of  the  packages  which  contain  the  powder 
used  in  making  the  dip.  Sheep  will  eat  everything. 
Unfortunately,  some  fifty  died  of  their  experiment  on 
this  occasion.  After  having  dipped  the  band  they  were 
all  marked  with  a  brand,  and  next  day  we  started*off 
along  a  by-road  which  skirted  the  foot  of  the  hills,  and 
finally  rejoined  the  main  road  near  the  Merced  bridge. 

Driving  sheep  is  simple  enough  in  theory.  The  herd 
is  marched  from  day  to  day  a  distance  of  eight  or  ten 
miles,  feeding  as  they  go,  starting  very  early  so  as  to 
travel  in  the  cool,  and,  if  possible,  reaching  the  banks  of 
a  stream  before  the  sun  grows  hot.  Through  the  heat 
of  the  day  the  sheep  do  not  care  to  feed  or  to  travel;  if 
full  they  will  lie  down,  seeking  some  shade,  or  drooping 
their  heads  under  the  shadow  of  each  other's  bodies. 
This  is  called  nooning;  it  may  begin  as  early  as  eight 
o'clock  in  the  height  of  summer,  and  last  till  four  or  five 


134  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

in  the  evening.  It  is  a  regular  part  of  the  day's  busi- 
ness, and  is  often  very  troublesome,  when  you  have  a 
little  distance  yet  to  go,  to  find  the  sheep  stopping  in 
bunches,  some  lying  down,  and  the  whole  baaing  their 
protest  against  further  exertion.  If  you  want  to  reach 
your  point  now  is  the  critical  time;  when  the  sheep  baa 
shout  at  them  and  hustle  them  a  bit  with  the  dogs.  Be- 
ware of  a  check,  as  should  the  flock  once  get  bunched 
up  your  chances  are  over;  you  may  then  let  the  sheep 
lie,  they  will  not  travel  again  till  evening.  There  is  a 
disagreeable  feeling  of  helplessness  in  handling  sheep; 
they  are  the  boss,  and  in  your  own  interests  you  must 
study  their  whims. 

Suppose,  however,  your  arrangements  have  been  good; 
you  have  brought  the  sheep  to  water;  they  have  been 
pleased  to  approve  of  the  quality  and  drink  at  once, 
without  wandering  off  in  search  of  something  clearer, 
fresher,  warmer,  or  different;  it  is  not  always  we  can 
understand  their  fancies;  they  will  feed  again  for  a  little 
w^ile,  after  which  you  may  bunch  them  up  where  you 
can  conveniently  watch  them.  You  will  see  some  stand- 
ing in  a  line,  each  head  under  the  belly  in  front;  others 
gather  round  a  bush,  with  their  heads  together  in  the 
shade  and  tails  out;  some  lie  down  to  sleep;  many  stand 
with  vacant  eyes  and  noses  stretched  to  the  ground,  and 
ease  their  feelings  by  heavy  panting.  In  the  afternoon, 
so  soon  as  the  sheep  show  a  tendency  to  scatter  out  and 
feed,  they  are  headed  in  the  right  direction,  and  travel 
slowly  till  nightfall,  when  they  are  rounded  up  in  a 
bunch,  and  expected  to  sleep.  A  good  driver  will  as 
much  as  possible  fall  in  with  the  inclinations  of  the 
herd,  and  let  them  start,  travel,  and  feed  much  as  they 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  135 

are  disposed,  always,  of  course,  with  due  regard  to  the 
prime  necessity  of  getting  over  the  ground.  There  are 
besides  certain  factors  of  which  the  sheep  can  scarcely 
be  expected  to  be  aware  with  regard  to  the  situation  of 
water  and  feed,  and  it  will  often  be  desirable  to  drive 
them  even  a  couple  of  miles  after  they  show  a  desire  to 
noon,  so  as  to  reach  water.  Sometimes,  to  get  across  a 
desert,  you  may  drive  the  sheep  so  much  as  twenty  miles 
a  day;  but  this  has  to  be  done  at  night  if  the  weather  is 
warm,  and  can  seldom  be  ventured  for  more  than  two  or 
three  days.  Crossing  the  mountains  the  sheep  are  often 
so  much  as  four  or  five  days  on  the  snow  without  losing 
any  large  number  of  the  band.  After  reaching  good 
grass  on  the  further  side  they  soon  recover  themselves. 
At  night  the  sheep,  if  well  fed,  will  lie  still,  but  as  a  rule 
when  travelling  they  had  better  be  watched.* 

Leaving  the  main  road  was  not  on  the  whole  a  suc- 
cess. The  feed  was  better,  but  on  the  county  road  we 
were  more  on  our  rights,  and  would  have  met  with  fewer 
annoyances  than  we  had  to  encounter  from  small  farm- 
ers, whose  object  often  seemed  merely  to  exhibit  "  cuss- 
edness,"  though,  to  the  credit  of  the  few,  it  must  be 
said  that  their  intention  was  elevated  into  the  regions  of 
common  sense  by  the  motive  of  extracting  a  few  dollars. 

*  A  cruel  necessity  was  disposing  of  the  newly  born  lambs.  The 
mass  of  the  sheep  were  yearlings;  all  were  supposed  to  be  dry  sheep. 
New  arrivals  were  de  trop,  and  more  likely  to  injure  the  ewes  than  be 
of  any  benefit  themselves.  There  was  nothing  to  be  done  but  to 
knock  the  flicker  of  life  out  of  the  little  things,  and  drive  the  mother 
on.  The  latter  make  no  difficulty;  at  all  times  these  merinos  are 
careless  parents  during  the  first  few  days  after  the  birth  of  their 
young  ones. 


136  PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES. 

At  one  place  we  were  turned  by  a  malicious  falsehood 
along  a  road  which  was  the  subject  of  a  local  lawsuit. 
The  proprietor  was  holding  the  way  against  all  comers, 
particularly  against  sheep.  We  had  known  of  this  ob- 
struction, and  had  arranged  to  make  our  way  round; 
but  the  American  sense  of  a  joke  was  not  to  be  balked. 
Fortunately  the  proprietor  in  question  was  a  much  bet- 
ter fellow  than  his  opponents  at  law,  and  let  my  band 
through  the  disputed  right  of  way.  At  another  place 
we  were  amused  by  a  woman  running  out  of  a  farm  and 
calling  on  her  husband  to  "give  them  hell."  These  are 
little  incidents,  but  will  serve  to  illustrate  the  dislike 
American  farmers  have  against  sheep,  and  the  petty  an- 
noyances they  are  not  above  putting  in  practice  on  the 
drovers.  To  see  the  worst  side  of  the  character  of  set- 
tlers in  California,  I  could  not  suggest  a  better  plan 
than  moving  a  band  of  sheep  through  one  or  two  coun- 
ties; after  that  you  may  try  anything  else  and  enjoy  the 
change. 

The  objective  point  of  the  drive  was  Sonora,  which 
stands  at  the  west  end  of  the  only  road  over  the  Sierra 
Nevada  mountains  which  is  possible  by  wagons  in  this 
part  of  California.  There  were  several  rivers  to  cross, 
where  the  only  convenient  points  of  crossing  were 
farmed  to  some  man  who  worked  a  ferry,  and  taxed 
sheep  exorbitantly.  The  rates  permitted  by  the  charter 
often  allow  as  much  as  fivepence  a  head  for  sheep  and 
pigs  ;  this  the  collectors  themselves  reduce  to  about  a 
penny-halfpenny  in  their  printed  rates,  but  generally  are 
satisfied  with  about  half.  Even  these  amounts,  when 
they  recur  three  or  four  times,  together  with  the  road- 
tolls,  add  a  heavy  percentage  to  the  original  cost  of 


PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES.  137 

about  eight  shillings  a  head.  It  can  only  be  avoided  by 
crossing  the  mountains  over  out-of-the-way  and  difficult 
passes  which  are  known  to  few  people.  The  farmers 
who  have  lived  many  years  near  the  hills,  and  have  sent 
their  flocks  up  regularly,  hazard  these  passes,  notwith- 
standing the  risk  of  spending  several  days  in  the  snow, 
rather  than  pay  the*  heavy  tolls.  In  this  matter  of  tolls 
the  Americans  will  not  learn  that  three  sixpences  are 
better  than  a  shilling. 

The  season  was  fairly  early  for  travelling;  the  road 
had  not  been  cut  up  by  much  stock  going  along  it.  The 
sheep  did  very  well,  getting  enough  to  eat  while  advanc- 
ing about  eight  miles  a  day.  'The  last  day's  march  up 
to  Sonora  was  much  longer  than  it  should  have  been. 
The  boys  pushed  on  so  as  to  reach  the  town,  and  revel 
for  a  night  in  the  charms  of  a  saloon. 

If  the  love  of  drink  is  to  be  regretted,  which  enslaves 
the  lowest  classes  of  towns  where  these  are  brutalized 
by  crowding,  poverty,  and  misery,  it  is,  I  think,  sadder  to 
note  the  hold  whiskey  has  on  the  Western  men  who,  from 
education  and  surroundings,  rank  in  intelligence  far 
above  the  working  classes  of  the  cities,  and  to  whom 
prosperity  and  comfort  are  within  arm's-reach  if  they 
would  only  let  go  the  glass  to  seize  them.  The  weak- 
ness for  whiskey  is  universal.  On  ranches  or  in  camp  it 
is  never  kept,  the  result  of  an  opposite  course  being 
certain;  consequently  so  long  as  a  man  is  at  work  he 
perforce  abstains  from  liquor;  but  the  moment  he  is 
free,  or  should  he  pass  within  a  certain  distance  of  a 
saloon,  the  temptation  is  too  strong;  his  craving  impels 
him  to  neglect  work,  or  to  undertake  a  toilsome  journey 
to  obtain  the  exciting  cordial — but  poison  one  would 


138  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

rather  say,  viewing  both  the  quality  of  the  mixture  sold 
generally  in  small  saloons,  and  the  constant  excess  to 
which  it  is  indulged.  There  is  not  a  man  but  thinks  of 
it,  and  pines  for  it,  and  so  soon  as  he  has  an  opportunity 
will  indulge;  nearly  always  he  will  take  too  much  if  he 
is  employed  where  it  is  not  within  daily  reach. 

Of  the  men  I  engaged  some  were  very  fairly  educated, 
and  in  the  ups  and  downs  of  colonial  life  had  seen  varied 
fortunes  and  tried  many  trades;  but  with  the  exception 
of  two  men,  who  had  been  raised  in  severely  temperance 
States,  and  retained  partially  the  habits  of  their  educa- 
tion, all  the  rest  were  devotees  of  the  bottle,  and  most  of 
them  got  drunk.  Cooking  is  not  a  special  trade  on  the 
prairies,  where  all  men  learn  to  cook  by  having  to  depend 
on  themselves  for  a  meal;  not  everybody  cares  to  under- 
take the  job,  but  the  man  who  does  is  just  the  same  as 
his  fellows  with  whom  before  or  hereafter  he  may  be 
working  or  riding ;  for  the  time,  however,  he  has  a 
specialty,  and  is  somewhat  of  a  despot.  What  is  the 
connection  between  cooking  and  drinking?  No  one 
knows.  I  employed  four  cooks;  they  all  got  drunk  when 
fortune  favored  them.  Two  of  them  were  by  far  the 
best  men  in  the  outfit — quick,  clean,  industrious,  early 
risers,  and  fairly  successful  in  their  art — they  were  clever 
drivers  and  looked  after  their  horses;  but  given  the  time 
and  the  money,  the  result  was  an  easy  prophecy.  When- 
ever I  heard  of  a  saloon  on  the  road  I  tried  to  arrange 
the  drive  so  that  we  should  halt  as  far  from  it  as  possible; 
the  boys  would  grumble  a  bit,  and  the  more  thirsty 
would  start  at  eight  or  nine  o'clock  at  night  to  walk  back 
a  couple  of  miles;  their  return  was  invariably  noisy. 

Light  beer,  brewed  by  the  Germans,  who  have  flocked 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  139 

by  so  many  thousands  into  America,  has  diverted  in  the 
Western  States  the  taste  from  whiskey.  It  is,  unfor- 
tunately, too  bulky  to  be  carried  far  off  from  the  rail- 
way, and  the  breweries  are  few  out  West,  so  that  the 
rail-carriage  would  be  expensive.  Californian  wine  may 
hereafter  compete  with  whiskey.  At  present  hotel- 
keepers  prefer  to  keep  native  wine  on  their  list  at  ex- 
travagant prices  to  selling  much;  good  wine  can  be 
bought  for  from  three  shillings  a  gallon;  it  is  generally 
charged  at  from  six  to  twelve  a  bottle  in  the  small  towns. 
In  Southern  California,  where  wine  is  cheap,  a  pleasant 
light  wine  is  supplied  sometimes  gratis  with  dinner  and 
supper.  I  did  not  notice  any  Americans  drink  it. 
Mexicans  and  Southern  Europeans  were  the  only  ones 
who  seemed  to  care  for  it;  yet  from  an  old-world  preju- 
diced point  of  view  it  must  be  far  more  wholesome  than 
a  hot  cup  of  strong  tea  or  coffee,  taken  with  meat.  As  a 
matter  of  taste  one  must  say  nothing. 

From  Sonora  onwards,  except  for  a  few  miles  at  the 
beginning,  the  road  runs  through  the  forest,  and  is  quite 
unfenced.  This  is  about  the  most  difficult  part  of  the 
drive  on  account  of  the  loss  from  sheep  straying  into  the 
bush;  generally  a  few  extra  hands  are  hired — often  as 
not  Indians.  The  latter  belong  to  the  Digger  tribe,  and 
some  of  them  are  not  averse  to  work  either  on  farms  or 
in  the  town.  They  are  not  all  equally  civilized,  and  one 
of  their  little  settlements  of  a  few  miserable  hovels,  with 
granaries  of  pine-nuts  in  the  shape  of  beehives  four  feet 
high,  enclosed  by  a  poor  fence  made  of  brambles,  cut 
down  and  thrown  into  a  line,  gives  a  notion  of  their 
aboriginal  and  miserable  style  of  living.  The  picture 
will  be  completed  by  supposing  an  ancient  and  wrinkled 


140  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

hag  sitting  on  a  flat  rock  in  the  ground  pounding  the 
pine-nuts  into  flour,  the  mortar  being  a  hole  in  the  rock 
itself.  For  a  few  marches  out  there  are  corrals,  in  which 
the  sheep  can  be  placed  at  night,  and  out  of  which  they 
can  be  counted  in  the  morning.  This,  however,  takes  so 
long  a  time  that,  as  a  rule,  it  is  done  only  every  second 
or  third  day;  counting  the  black  sheep,  and  those  with 
bells,  being  thought  a  sufficient  check  for  intermediate 
occasions.  It  is  quite  possible  for  a  bunch  of  four  or 
five  hundred  to  disappear  out  of  a  band  of  as  many 
thousand,  and  the  ordinary  herder  will  not  notice  their 
absence,  even  in  an  open  country  where  he  can  see  his 
flock  together. 

Crossing  the  Sierras,  a  very  small  portion  of  the  band 
travel  on  the  road.  Most  of  the  sheep  are  scrambling 
along  the  hillside  in  a  parallel  direction,  browsing  on 
the  young  shoots,  or  wildly  climbing  in  search  of  young 
grass.  With  all  this  bush  to  contend  with,  it  was  hard 
work  to  keep  the  sheep  together,  and  it  is  no  unusual 
sight  to  see  a  band,  as  if  gone  mad,  mounting  and 
mounting  towards  the  hill-top,  scattered  everywhere  in 
groups  of  ten  to  twenty,  striving  to  out-run  or  out-climb 
some  bunch  with  a  slight  advance,  baaing  and  rushing 
as  if  distraught ;  and  all  because  they  have  come  on 
a  patch  of  wild  leek  or  green  snowbush,  butter-weed, 
or  brier.  Now  is  the  occasion  for  the  shepherds  to 
show  their  activity  ;  they  must  outpace  the  sheep  in 
climbing  the  hill,  and  strive  to  turn  them  in  fifty  places, 
or  they  will  have  a  small  chance  of  collecting  the  rabble 
without  great  loss.  A  dog  in  such  moments  is  of  more 
use  than  three  men  ;  not  only  that  he  gets  more  quickly 
over  the  ground,  but  that  the  sheep  mind  a  dog,  whereas 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  14! 

they  have  no  fear  of  the  men.  When  started  on  one  of 
these  escapades,  they  will  stand  and  dodge  a  herder,  or 
turn  only  so  long  as  he  is  driving  them.  Others  would 
sneak  into  the  bushes,  or  hide  in  some  little  ravine,  while 
nature  aids  the  troublesome  brutes  in  exhausting  the 
men,  who  are  often  taken  in  by  the  appearance  of  rocks 
far  above  them,  and  thinking  to  catch  a  band  of  strays 
don't  find  out  their  mistake  until  they  have  had  a  long 
climb. 

We  were  always  glad  enough  when  night  came,  and 
could  see  the  camp-fire  alight  ahead.  Towards  evening 
the  sheep  follow  well ;  it  would  be  as  difficult  to  sepa- 
rate them  now  as  in  the  day-time  it  was  hard  to  bring 
them  together.  No  longer  in  search  of  food,  they  come 
down  to  the  path,  succeeding  each  other  in  endless  line. 
For  a  quarter  of  a  mile  the  road  is  a  solid  mass  of  woolly 
heads  and  backs,  with  wisps  joining  in  at  intervals  from 
out  of  the  dusk  through  some  gap  in  the  bushes,  or 
down  a  broken  ramp  in  the  bank. 

A  bedding-ground  has  been  chosen  already,  and  so 
soon  as  the  leaders  reach  the  further  limit  they  are 
stopped  ;  the  rest  crowd  in,  and  are  made  to  close  up 
their  ranks  ;  the  men  and  dogs  walk  round  and  check  the 
usual  discontented  ones  who  now  want  to  go  foraging. 
There  is  plenty  of  dead  wood,  and  soon  half-a-dozen 
fires  blaze  at  various  points,  lighting  a  small  portion  of 
the  forest,  and  picking  out,  with  a  ruddy  glare,  the  out- 
lines of  the  men  and  pine-trees.  By  and  by  cook  shouts 
"Supper!"  One  man  is  left  on  guard,  and  we  gather 
round  the  piece  of  oil-cloth  spread  on  the  ground,  on 
which  are  laid  the  exact  number  of  tin-plates,  etc. 
After  supper  the  watch  is  settled  for  the  night ;  we  all 


142  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

turn  in  except  cook,  who  is  left  washing  up  and  getting 
everything  ready  for  the  speediest  preparation  of  break- 
fast next  morning. 

There  is  little  game  near  the  road.  It  was  not  till 
close  to  the  snow  that  we  saw  a  few  deer ;  there  were 
some  grouse,  and  on  the  tops  of  the  hills  we  occasionally 
came  on  the  traces  of  bear;  this  does  not  imply  that 
there  is  no  sport,  but  to  find  game  it  must  be  sought. 
The  traveller  must  not  expect  to  pick  up  a  few  head 
while  sticking  to  the  road.  Just  in  this  portion  of  the 
Sierras  there  have  been  no  groves  found  of  the  gigantic 
Sequoia,  although  two  of  the  best-known  clumps  lie  at 
no  great  distance  north  and  south  of  Sonora.  There 
are,  however,  magnificent  sugar-pines  but  little  inferior 
to  the  Sequoia  ;  in  reality,  a  handsomer  tree,  and  one 
which  stands  grandly  on  some  of  the  boldest  mountain 
sites.  The  streams  at  this  time  of  year  are  full,  and  re- 
fresh us  with  a  sparkling  draught  or  a  bracing  bath 
under  the  noonday  sun.  The  road  follows  the  valley  of 
one  branch  of  the  Stanislaus  River,  which,  as  we  see  it, 
is  a  dull  green  ribbon  far  down  below  us.  The  bigger 
streams  crossing  the  road  have  been  bridged  ;  some 
yield  trout  ;  but  for  fishing  you  must  wait  till  they  are 
less  turbid. 

After  ten  days'  travel  through  the  mountains  the 
herders  were  pretty  well  tired  out  by  the  unwonted  ex- 
ercise of  chasing  vagrant  and  skittish  yearlings  along 
the  steep  and  rocky  slopes,  or  in  slowly  pushing  their 
way  in  rear  of  a  straggling  bunch  through  a  labyrinth  of 
tangled  manzanita  or  bull-brush.  Here  you  have  to 
contend  each  step  with  the  tough  branches,  forcing  the 
upper  ones  apart  with  your  arms,  while  you  feel  with 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  143 

your  feet  for  some  firm  footing  in  a  mixture  of  low 
ground-stems,  roots,  and  loosely  holding  stones.  It  is 
bad  enough  to  work  your  way  down-hill  ;  but  if  you 
have  to  mount  upwards  with  a  band  of  a  hundred  sheep 
to  watch,  and  bring  them  back  to  the  road  ;  to  head  off 
those  which  foolishly  fancy  an  outlet  by  some  small 
clearance  to  one  side  ;  to  keep  the  leaders  in  view  and 
in  the  right  direction  ;  to  persuade  those  lagging  behind 
to  follow  at  all — you  will  enjoy  no  small  trial  of  your 
calf  muscles,  and  a  moral  victory  if  you  repress  the  bit- 
ter anathemas  on  the  whole  race  of  sheep.  It  is  no 
dashing  occupation  that  of  sheep-driving  ;  it  requires 
endless  patience. 

At  last  the  band  was  gathered  near  the  foot  of  the 
pass.  One  bunch  had  strayed,  where  and  when  was  not 
quite  certain;  the  boys  think  they  must  have  got  away 
up  the  mountain;  there  will  be  time  to  go  back  and  hunt 
for  them  before  the  wagon  can  cross.  Feed  is  scarce 
on  this  side;  the  best  thing  is  to  get  the  band  over  as 
quickly  as  possible.  There  remains  a  steep  road  over 
barren  hills,  which  mounts  continually  upwards  for  six 
or  seven  miles  before  we  reach  the  snow.  The  young 
wild-leek  grass  which  had  made  the  sheep  so  rebellious 
had  not  sprouted  at  this  higher  elevation;  the  snow- 
brush  had  put  forth  young  shoots  in  warm  corners  fac- 
ing the  south;  the  long  hours  of  sunshine  and  heat-con- 
serving rocks  have  forced  on  the  vegetation  of  such 
bushes  as  the  wild  rose  and  flowering  currant.  There 
was  about  enough  to  feed  the  sheep,  just  for  the  day,  up 
to  the  verge  of  snow,  but  we  could  not  afford  to  halt,  the 
principal  aim  being  to  take  the  sheep  over  at  once  while 
their  strength  is  good. 


144  PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES. 

One  band,  belonging  to  a  well-experienced  Frenchman, 
has  crossed  the  mountain  already  just  ahead  of  us.  The 
difficulty  of  the  passage  lies  in  the  danger  of  falling 
between  two  seasons.  Up  to  a  certain  time  in  the  early 
summer  the  nights  are  sufficiently  frosty  to  harden  the 
surface  of  the  snow,  upon  which  the  sheep  can  then 
travel  without  floundering,  to  about  ten  o'clock  in  the 
day.  A  month  later  the  snow  will  have  disappeared 
enough,  not  only  for  stock,  but  for  all  ordinary  wheel- 
traffic  to  follow  the  road:  At  present,  the  nights  are  too 
mild  to  please  us.  The  hot  sun  during  the  long  days 
sends  the  smaller  torrents  roaring  and  splashing  across 
the  road;  the  sheep  hesitate  to  wade,  and  hunt  for  places 
where  they  can  cross  by  leaping  from  rocks  to  shore, 
until  a  certain  number  are  over,  when  the  rest  disregard 
a  wetting,  and  rush  through  quite  boldly. 

Pushing  on  ahead,  I  find  the  snow  a  little  soft,  but 
still  passable;  it  promises,  however,  to  be  hard  work  for 
the  pack-horses.  We  must  get  on,  there  are  many  long 
stages  ahead,  and  every  day's  delay  makes  the  further 
journey  more  difficult.  In  the  mean  time,  report  tells  us 
of  several  other  herds  echeloned  along  the  road,  who  also 
intend  to  cross.  We  must  keep  our  bands  clear.  Should 
they  get  mixed,  it  will  take  days,  even  after  reaching  a 
corral,  to  separate  them,  and  in  the  process  do  the  sheep 
a  great  deal  of  harm  by  the  handling.  At  the  end  of  the 
seven  miles  the  road  crosses  a  creek,  and  on  the  opposite 
shore  the  snow  begins;  it  covers  the  road  for  five  miles 
to  the  summit,  and  for  about  three  miles  on  the  further 
slope.  The  sheep  are  particularly  stubborn  at  this  trying 
moment,  and  cannot  be  made  to  ford  the  torrent.  With 
each  hour  the  water  rises  somewhat,  but  it  never  becomes 


PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES.  145 

a  serious  obstacle;  it  is  a  case  of  will  not,  which  occurs 
among  sheep,  and  is  most  annoying,  as  you  feel  power- 
less to  control  the  inert  resistance  of  the  crowd  of  stupid 
animals;  to  get  a  right  movement  out  of  them  seems  a 
hopeless  task.  Valuable  time  is  wasted;  not  only  the 
sheep  have  not  crossed,  but  standing  bunched  up  they 
necessarily  have  lost  the  chance  of  feeding  for  that  day. 

We  survey  the  creek  for  some  distance  up  to  find  some 
better  ford,  but  without  success.  There  is  no  chance  of 
improvement,  except  at  one  place,  where  in  former  years 
a  bridge  had  spanned  a  narrow  part  of  the  stream.  The 
poles  had  fallen  off  the  natural  rock  on  which  they  had 
abutted  on  one  side;  but  the  snow  partially  overhung  the 
chasm,  and  if  this  held  good  we  might  repair  damages 
sufficiently  to  make  a  crossing.  The  men  could  cross 
easily  enough  by  fording,  though  the  water  running 
freshly  from  the  snow-drifts  above  was  icy  cold  and  chill- 
ed our  legs,  which  was  not  an  attractive  introduction  to 
standing  in  the  sloppy  snow  on  the  bank.  The  work  was 
urgent;  a  pine-tree  is  cut  down,  but  before  we  can  get 
it  into  position  the  torrent  catches  the  spread  of  top 
branches,  and  wrenches  the  pole  out  of  our  hands;  we 
see  it  merrily  plunging  through  a  series  of  small  cataracts. 
A  couple  more  trees  are  felled,  and,  being  more  carefully 
handled,  they  are  laid  successfully  across  between  the 
fragment  of  the  old  bridge  and  the  snow  on  the  opposite 
side;  branches  are  thrown  on  to  stop  holes  and  make  a 
platform;  by  night  we  have  secured  a  passage  which 
should  be  good  enough. 

The  sheep  were  driven  next  morning  to  this  bridge, 
but  were  listless,  and  disinclined  to  face  what  was  scarce- 
ly a  difficulty.  In  addition,  the  boys  were  tired  and  apa- 


146  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

thetic;  matters  had  not  gone  quite  smoothly;  therefore 
they  were  disheartened  and  grumbling,  and  failed  alto- 
gether in  the  average  pluck  of  white  men.  Fortunately, 
the  owner  of  the  herd  immediately  behind  had  come  on 
ahead  to  see  for  himself  how  far  the  coast  was  clear;  he 
was  equally  interested  with  myself  in  getting  the  band 
over,  and  lent  a  willing  hand.  The  sheep  were  driven 
up  so  closely  to  the  bridge  as  they  could  stand,  but  of 
course  met  our  efforts  by  continually  breaking  away, 
clambering  the  rocks,  and  dodging  the  men  who  stood 
round.  A  certain  number  had  to  be  caught  and  dragged 
by  a  leg  along  the  snow  and  over  the  bridge,  in  this  way 
making  a  trail;  and  by  standing  on  the  further  shore 
suggesting  to  the  band  that  remained  behind  the  object 
they  should  attain.  At  last  one  sheep  more  bold  leads 
the  way,  walking  with  hesitating  steps,  and  sniffing  the 
air  with  head  erect;  he  seems  to  question  the  possibility 
of  the  small  bunch  standing  out  there  in  the  snow  being 
really  companions;  he  crosses  without  ever  looking  at 
the  bridge.  This  is  all  that  is  required  to  give  a  start. 
We  need  only  be  still,  and  not  risk  frightening  those 
which  have  passed  over.  By  degrees  others  follow,  at 
first  slowly,  but  soon  as  thickly  as  the  width  of  the  bridge 
will  allow.  We  must  keep  the  whole  band  well  pressed 
up  against  the  stream,  or  the  line  may  be  broken,  and 
the  passage  would  be  interrupted,  and  maybe  have  to  be 
reopened  by  further  catching  and  dragging. 

We  happily  avoid  any  serious  difficulty.  The  line  is 
not  badly  broken  ;  half  the  sheep  have  still  to  cross ; 
the  other  half,  which  at  first  had  stood  huddled  in  the 
snow,  have  suddenly  taken  it  into  their  heads  to  climb, 
and  in  a  few  minutes  they  are  off.  Selecting  the  faces 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  147 

of  the  slopes  where  the  snow  lies  thin,  or  the  soil  is  ex- 
posed in  patches,  without  any  prospect  of  feed,  they  are 
scampering  like  chamois.  These  must  be  stopped  ;  it 
takes  half  the  men  to  do  it,  and  that  not  without  hard 
toil. 

I  must  go  back  to  camp  for  a  time,  and  arrange  what 
articles  are  indispensable  for  the  next  fortnight.  These 
will  have  to  be  packed  on  ponies,  while  the  balance  can 
remain  in  the  wagon,  which,  with  the  horses,  will  be 
left  at  the  foot  of  the  pass  until  the  road  is  open.  It  is 
a  hard  day's  work  ;  the  weather  has  changed,  and  a 
slight  drizzle  has  succeeded  to  the  days  of  sunshine. 
Late  in  the  evening  the  ponies  are  packed,  and  taken 
up  the  river  to  camp.  We  must  ford  the  stream,  and, 
after  unloading,  the  ponies  have  to  be  brought  back 
again,  as  the  only  chance  of  their  getting  anything  to 
eat  is  to  tether  them  on  the  further  bank,  where,  if 
hungry  enough,  they  will  browse  on  the  bark  of  the 
willows.  They  get  a  small  feed  of  barley  ;  we  cannot 
afford  much,  as  the  steepness  of  the  road  had  limited 
our  stock.  Having  picketed  the  ponies  we  return  to  sup- 
per. It  is  very  late  ;  wet  to  the  fork  in  crossing  the  icy 
stream,  standing  in  slushy  snow,  we  eat  our  meal  round 
the  best  blaze  we  can  make  in  a  clump  of  pine  trees. 
The  sheep  are  scattered  irregularly  along  such  portions 
of  the  road  and  bank  which  are  clear  of  snow. 

Next  morning  the  pass  must  be  crossed.  It  takes 
some  time  before  the  sheep  can  be  induced  to  travel 
through  the  snow.  At  length  they  are  off.  The  four 
ponies  are  packed  ;  there  is  nothing  to  do  but  to  follow 
the  trail  of  the  former  band,  and  reach  the  other  side, 
which  is  not  more  than  a  day's  journey.  Unluckily  ct 


148  PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES. 

this  point  I  was  obliged  to  go  back,  partly  on  account 
of  business  which  had  been  carefully  muddled  in  a  com- 
bination of  bankers  with  the  express  (parcel)  service, 
and  partly  to  hunt  up  any  strays  which  might  be  found. 
The  band  was  put  in  charge  of  the  fittest  man  on  the 
spot.  There  was  nothing  to  do  but  to  cross  over  and 
keep  the  sheep  in  the  best  condition  until  I  could  rejoin. 

The  trip  back  to  Sonora  did  not  take  long.  I  arrange 
my  affairs,  and,  having  got  the  wagon  with  one  of  the 
men,  I  load  it  with  a  good  supply  of  provisions,  know- 
ing that  the  commonest  articles  are  of  extravagant 
price  when  one  you  reach  Nevada,  and  start  again  over 
the  same  road.  As  I  have  to  hunt  up  the  stray  sheep 
we  add  to  our  number  a  couple  of  Indians,  who  are 
thought  good  trackers.  Although  we  have  to  walk  a 
great  deal,  high  upon  the  hills,  hunting  for  signs,  it  is 
on  the  whole  pleasanter  than  being  at  the  tail  of  the 
herd.  The  country  is  quite  wild.  Along  the  first  thirty 
miles  a  few  shanties  are  inhabited,  but  ten  yards  on 
either  side  of  the  road  the  forest  begins,  and  the  further 
you  leave  the  road  the  wilder  and  more  solitary  be- 
comes the  scene.  There  are  no  animals,  and  few  birds  ; 
except  the  one  road  there  are  no  paths.  The  higher 
parts  of  the  hills  are  fairly  clear,  but  now  and  again  the 
vegetation  along  a  stream  is  so  tangled  that  to  get 
ahead  you  must  go  a  long  way  round.  Signs  of  our 
sheep  we  cannot  find.  I  hear  of  two  bands  which  have 
come  in  since  I  passed  through,  and  as  small  bunches  of 
sheep  will  always  run  into  a  herd,  perhaps  I  may  yet 
discover  some  of  the  vagrants. 

On  one  occasion  I  took  one  of  the  Indians  along  as 
more  likely  than  myself  to  hit  on  the  trail,  and  follow 


PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES.  149 

it  up  to  the  band  for  which  I  was  searching.  We  did 
not  have  much  trouble  ;  while  making  our  way  into  a 
valley  we  heard  bells,  and  not  long  after  the  flock  ap- 
peared, scattered,  and  running  like  deer  to  feed  on  the 
young  grass.  As  the  herders  must  be  following  we  sit 
down  on  a  prominent  point,  and  have  not  long  to  wait. 
Two  men  are  coming  up  the  valley.  In  the  hand  of 
one  of  them  something  flashes  at  intervals  as  he  swings 
his  arms.  The  Indian  nudges  me  and  says,  "  Man  got 
a  gun."  True  enough;  the  herders  were  out  watching 
their  flock,  each  armed  with  a  revolver.  They  were  not, 
however,  wild  spirits,  but  steady  men.  There  is  some- 
times a  misunderstanding  about  ranges  ;  two  different 
men  will  claim  the  same  one.  The  story  went  that 
some  Frenchmen  had  murdered  a  man  just  hereabouts, 
and  driven  his  band  of  sheep  over  a  precipice.  It  was 
well  to  be  ready  to  protect  yourself.  In  the  West  there 
is  little  law  to  safeguard  property  ;  none  for  life.  It  is, 
after  all,  but  rare  that  business  takes  the  serious  turn  of 
shooting.  Most  of  the  frays  rise  out  of  gambling  and 
drunken  quarrels,  and  shooting  is  relegated  to  the 
saloons  and  haunts  of  the  most  depraved.  My  Indian 
was  a  cautious  man,  and  kept  out  of  sight  until  he  saw 
that  it  was  a  friendly  pow-wow.  Not  that  his  particular 
people  are  much  ill-used ;  at  present  they  are  few  in 
number,  peaceable,  and  have  no  large  reservation  to  stir 
the  envy  and  covetousness  of  the  white  man. 

The  other  herd  had  gone  off  in  quite  a  contrary  direc- 
tion with  a  view  of  making  its  way  over  the  mountains 
by  a  less-used  pass;  where  there  was  no  road,  conse- 
quently no  toll.  It  took  a  long  morning  to  follow  the 
trail  and  reach  the  herd,  which  had  followed  up  the 


ISO  PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES. 

brow  of  a  salient  spur;  in  neither  case  did  I  find  or  hear 
of  any  of  my  strays.  The  idea  is  that  sheep  left  to 
themselves  will  mount  to  the  highest  points  and  remain 
there  unless  disturbed  by  bears,  wolves,  and  cayotes, 
which  will  split  up  the  bunch  and  scatter  them.  On 
this  view  of  what  the  sheep  ought  to  have  done,  I  hunted 
the  hill-sides  above  the  road,  and  sent  the  Indians  in 
other  directions.  After  six  days'  toil  we  reached  again 
the  foot  of  the  pass,  and  the  Indians  were  sent  back 
home.  The  sheep  were  subsequently  found  far  down 
the  valley. 

There  is  a  heavy  expense  in  taking  horses  through  the 
mountains,  for  not  only  is  barley  expensive,  but,  as  there 
is  little  grazing,  hay  has  to  be  freighted  out  to  the  dif- 
ferent points,  and  varies  from  one-and-a-half  to  three- 
and-a-half  cents  a  pound.  When  it  comes  to  feeding  big 
horse,  thirty  or  forty  pounds  do  not  go  far.  I  receive  a 
letter  from  my  temporary  foreman,  sent  by  the  hand  of  a 
traveller  who  had  just  crossed,  saying  that  he  has  hired 
a  range,  beside  entering  on  other  transactions,  and  asks 
for  a  big  sum  of  money.  This  is  a  serious  business;  if  I 
will  only  give  him  time  he  will,  I  feel  sure,  like  an  elec- 
tioneering agent,  study  my  interests  by  getting  rid  of 
any  amount  of  money  with  the  greatest  industry.  I  de- 
termine, therefore,  to  leave  the  wagon  at  the  foot  of  the 
pass,  and  to  ride  over  the  team-horses. 

There  is  a  great  change  since  the  sheep  started  a  week 
before;  another  mile  of  the  road  is  clear,  but  beyond 
snow  still  covers  the  country,  though  large  patches  of 
ground  are  bare  on  the  south-facing  flank  of  the  pass. 
The  tracks  of  the  sheep  which  have  crossed  show  but 
faintly,  as  the  surface  of  the  snow  melts  off  each  day;  it 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  I$I 

it  is  impossible  to  keep  the  road,  of  which  the  direction 
is  at  times  difficult  to  trace.  It  probably  would  follow 
the  bottom  of  the  valley,  in  which  the  snow  still  lies 
three  or  four  feet  deep,  and  is  so  soft  and  rotten  that  it 
will  not  carry  a  man,  much  less  support  a  horse.  I  try 
to  get  round  by  the  bare  spots,  lead  the  horse,  and  care- 
fully feel  in  front  of  him  when  about  to  cross  deep  snow. 
At  last  I  come  to  grief — the  horse  breaks  through  the 
crust,  and  is  buried  all  but  his  head  in  a  snowdrift.  He 
has  tumbled  over  the  concealed  trunk  of  a  fallen  tree, 
under  which  his  legs  have  slid,  while  his  body  is  on  a 
slope  which  tends  to  keep  him  fast.  One  hind-leg  is 
hooked  up  in  an  awkward  position.  I  take  off  the  sad- 
dle and  luggage,  and  encourage  him  to  extricate  himself. 
It  is  of  no  use;  and  fearing  lest  he  should  cut  his  legs 
with  his  shoes  (for  much  snow-work  the  shoes  are 
always  taken  off),  I  leave  him,  and  run  back  half-a-mile 
to  meet  some  Portuguese,  who  are  bringing  over  a  herd 
of  sheep.  From  them  I  borrow  an  axe  and  an  iron 
basin,  and,  with  the  help  of  the  man  who  is  coming  on 
the  other  horse,  we  dig  and  scrape  a  bit,  and  the  horse 
releases  himself,  plunging  down-hill  through  the  snow. 
It  is  evidently  not  much  use  to  try  and  take  the  horses 
over,  so  I  send  them  both  back  with  the  man,  and  set  off 
on  foot. 

Of  the  Portuguese,  not  one  speaks  English,  and  only 
one  knows  the  road.  He  is  occupied  in  forcing  a  small 
bunch  ahead  to  serve  as  leaders  for  the  rest  of  the  band; 
he  understands  my  questions,  but  has  his  hands  full,  and 
can  give  no  answer  but  by  waving  his  arms  upward. 
It's  small  fun  starting  late  to  cross  a  summit  without  a 
road,  not  knowing  which  valley  is  the  correct  one,  and 


152  PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES. 

having  to  wade  through  soft  snow  half  the  time.  There 
are  two  valleys  in  front,  either  sufficiently  large  to  be 
followed  by  a  road.  Of  course  with  ample  time  there  is 
little  real  difficulty.  You  hunt  the  tracks  of  travellers 
who  have  preceded  you;  but  while  going  on  roundabout 
ways  you  lose  the  trail,  and  then  grow  impatient;  you 
begin  to  fancy  that  you  ought  to  have  taken  another 
valley;  you  think  you  noticed  a  blaze  on  a  tree  in  that 
direction.  You  do  not  want  to  go  a  mile  out  of  your 
way  with  the  double  dose  of  returning;  and  then  the 
chance  of  stopping  out  all  night  without  food  or  blankets 
is  not  inviting. 

This  is  mere  nervousness,  but  still  uncomfortable. 
It  takes  time  for  one  whose  senses  have  degenerated 
through  civilization  to  be  quite  at  his  ease  in  the  midst 
of  a  boundless  solitude;  and  however  ready  the  new- 
comer may  be  to  do  as  those  around  him,  the  more 
acute  sensibility  and  vivid  imagination  bred  of  a  com- 
plex civilization  is  a  burden  which  he  will  find  difficult 
to  throw  off.  One  effort  will  not  do  it;  it  must  go  in 
pieces,  as  experience  shows  that  man  wants  but  little,  or 
rather  that  when  he  has  but  little  he  can  get  on  very 
well  without  the  rest.  I  must  push  on,  as  even  after 
reaching  the  road  on  the  further  side  there  are  some 
fourteen  miles  or  so  before  reaching  shelter. 

Looking  back  on  one's  little  expeditions  and  trials, 
they  diminish  so  dreadfully.  It  is  most  discouraging  to 
travel  nowadays,  after  reading  the  journals  of  a  century 
back,  when  you  need  not  leave  Europe  to  find  excite- 
ment and  hair-breadth  escapes  from  robbers,  sinking 
beds,  haunted  castles,  and  barbers'  shops  fitted  with 
underground  cellars  and  sausage-machines.  Now  you 


PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES.  153 

lose  your  way,  you  find  it.  You  have  missed  your 
lunch,  and  therefore  eat  a  heartier  dinner;  nothing  is 
simpler,  even  in  the  by-ways.  I  take  the  right-hand 
valley,  and  occasionally  satisfied  by  the  hoof-marks  of 
the  last  pack-ponies  which  crossed,  I  arrive  at  the  crest 
of  the  pass.  After  this  it  is  plain  sailing.  The  snow  on 
the  eastern  side  of  the  Sierras  reaches  only  about  a 
mile;  the  road  is  plainly  visible  some  distance  ahead; 
the  hills  below  look  green;  and  far  off  a  small  lake  is 
twinkling  like  a  burnished  silver  plate.  It  is  all  down- 
hill, but  the  sun  blazes  hot;  there  are  hardly  any  trees. 
I  find  a  cabin  which  is  occupied,  but  no  one  is  at  home. 
I  have  a  crust  of  bread,  there  is  no  want  of  water;  with 
these  I  make  a  lunch,  and  enjoy  a  short  siesta. 

About  three  o'clock  I  start  again,  and  after  nine  miles 
more  walking,  including  a  good  deal  of  wading,  as  most 
of  the  streams  follow  their  own  route,  either  across  or 
along  the  road,  I  rejoin  the  herd,  which  is  camped  on 
both  banks  of  the  Little  Walker  River  about  half  a  mile 
from  the  main  road.  A  sheep- bridge  connects  the  two 
banks,  and  corrals  have  been  roughly  made  by  chop- 
ping down  young  cottonwoods.  There  are  many 
sheep-bridges  all  over  these  ranges,  made  by  the  people 
who  have  herded  here,  which  are  well  known  only 
among  sheep-men;  if  you  are  aware  of  such  a  construc- 
tion, the  converging  sheep-paths  will  readily  point  it 
out.  It  often  consists  of  a  single  large  pine-tree,  which 
stood  conveniently  on  the  bank,  which  has  been  felled, 
and  directed  in  its  fall  across  the  stream;  sometimes  a 
little  labor  is  bestowed  in  flattening  or  cutting  notches 
on  the  top  surface.  If  often  to  be  used,  a  rough  balus- 
trade is  added,  and  a  few  stones  are  piled  to  make  a 


154  PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES. 

ramp  by  which  the  sheep  can  mount  readily  on  to  the 
log.  The  banks  of  the  river  on  either  side,  above  and 
below  the  bridge,  may  be  fenced,  to  prevent  the  sheep 
from  pushing  each  other  into  the  water  when  crowding 
to  cross.  Over  such  bridges  sheep  make  no  difficulty  in 
passing  ;  the  smell  left  by  former  bands  give  them  con- 
fidence. Owners  whose  bands  are  constantly  travelling 
train  one  or  two  stout  wethers  or  goats  to  lead  the  herd; 
the  latter,  I  understand,  have  to  taste  the  stick  before 
they  thoroughly  imbibe  their  education;  they  are  great 
tyrants  in  the  herd,  and  mar  their  usefulness  at  times  by 
leading  the  sheep  into  difficult  places  where  they  are 
liable  to  fall  and  injure  themselves. 

I  find  the  sheep  in  good  enough  condition.  They 
have  nothing  to  do  but  to  feed  on  the  fresh  grass,  with 
plenty  to  drink,  and  no  distance  to  travel.  The  younger 
ones  play  and  butt  each  other,  dancing  and  bounding 
in  the  air,  alighting  sideways,  kicking  up  their  heels, 
in  the  most  graceful  and  lively  manner.  I  hear  that 
they  had  a  hard  time  in  crossing  the  mountain.  The 
passage  was  most  clumsily  mismanaged.  The  whole 
outfit  had  spent  a  night  on  the  snow.  The  two  men  in 
oiiarge  of  the  pack-ponies  had  found  some  difficulty  in 
getting  along;  their  hearts  failed  them;  so,  pulling  the 
packs  off,  they  left  the  ponies,  and,  blindly  deserting 
food  and  blankets,  they  went  off  to  rejoin  the  men  with 
the  herd.  The  whole  lot  spent  an  uncomfortable  night, 
and  next  morning,  demoralized  by  the  idea  of  reaching 
a  saloon,  they  abandoned  horses  and  packs,  and  drove  on 
the  sheep.  At  the  first  shed  they  were  disappointed  as 
to  whiskey,  but  bought  some  food.  Hope  told  a  tale  of 
another  hotel  beyond,  so  they  rush  on  again.  The  fore- 


PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES.  1 55 

man,  delighted  with  his  rise,  goes  ahead,  hires  a  horse, 
and  indulges  a  spirit  of  benevolence  to  all  humanity  at 
my  expense  in  buying  food,  lodging  the  men,  hiring 
Indians  to  recover  the  horses  and  goods  left  on  the 
snow.  Three  of  the  horses  are  brought  back  in  miser- 
able condition;  the  fourth  died.  Some  of  the  men  have 
fallen  out  with  the  foreman,  and  want  to  quit. 

In  another  way  one  or  two  of  us  have  been  entrapped, 
when  paying  the  toll  on  the  Sonora  side.  We  under- 
stood that  no  further  toll  need  be  paid  on  this  side  of 
the  mountains;  but  as  the  last  ten  or  eleven  miles  of  the 
road  are  in  another  county,  this  county  has  a  right  to 
grant  a  separate  charter,  which  it  has  accordingly  done 
within  the  last  ten  days.  A  friend  gets  the  monopoly; 
he  employs  half-a-dozen  men  for  a  fortnight  after  the 
melting  of  the  snow  to  clear  off  big  stones,  from  which 
time  he  has  a  snug  little  income.  The  collector  misses 
the  first  band  over,  but  I  am  not  so  lucky.  He  and  the 
foreman,  whom  he  afterwards  told  me  was  a  perfect 
gentleman,  agree  in  an  off-hand  way  that  the  toll  shall 
be  nothing  more  than  just  enough  to  throw  the  stones 
off  the  road  which  the  herd  will  roll  down;  they  trade  a 
horse  for  some  sheep,  arrange  for  some  grub,  and  be- 
have with  the  handsome  disregard  of  expense  which 
animates  us  all  when  handling  other  person's  money.  I 
need  hardly  say  that  the  bargain  on  my  side  was  a  bad 
one. 

Sheep  are  looked  upon  as  natural  prey  by  all  out- 
siders, and  it  is  a  race  who  can  take  most  out  of  the 
owners  by  hook  or  by  crook.  There  were  many  stories 
current  on  the  California  side,  of  ranchers  setting  wire 
nooses  and  other  traps  in  the  bushes  to  'catch  passing 


156  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

sheep  ;  these  are  mere  stories  possibly,  but  I  was  told 
by  the  boys  that  in  crowding  through  a  village  they 
stopped  a  man  from  pulling  one  of  the  sheep  into  his 
doorway.  A  single  sheep  is  of  no  great  value,  and  such 
a  proceeding  would  be  held  to  partake  of  the  nature  of 
a  farce. 

Next  day,  after  arrival,  attention  must  be  paid  to  the 
quarrel  among  the  men  ;  they  cannot  get  on  together ; 
some  of  the  younger  fellows  wish  to  quit  if  I  cannot  re- 
model the  service  to  suit.  They  had  left  the  half-band 
of  which  they  had  charge  for  a  whole  night  scattered  on 
the  hillside,  and  in  the  morning  had  gone  leisurely  to 
work  at  nine  o'clock  to  drive  them  together.  They  ob- 
jected to  bringing  them  to  a  corral  where  they  can  be 
counted,  and  had  behaved  in  very  poor  form  ;  the  only 
thing  left  was  to  part  company. 

The  team-horses  followed  me  across  the  pass  two  or 
three  days  later,  and  using  these  I  rode  all  over  the  hills 
for  a  week  to  assure  myself  that  no  more  strays  were 
lying  out.  Notwithstanding  very  circumstantial  reports 
of  sheep  having  been  seen  in  certain  places,  I  could  find 
no  traces,  and  subsequently  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  number  said  to  have  been  counted  in  the  band  was 
deliberately  mis-stated.  Why  one  of  the  boys,  who  fol- 
lowed our  fortunes  for  some  two  months,  persisted  in 
supporting  the  story  when  it  was  of  no  disadvantage  to 
anybody  to  tell  the  truth,  was  difficult  to  understand. 
It  was  a  small  amusement  to  me,  when  I  had  fathomed 
the  scheme,  to  hear  his  views  as  to  where  the  mythical 
sheep  had  gone  to.  He  might  as  well  at  the  time  have 
saved  me  and  the  horses  many  days'  hard  work,  much 
annoyance,  besides  some  professional  disgrace  which 


PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES.  157 

attends  a  herder  who  loses  stock  and  cannot  recover 
them.  The. ranchers  around,  getting  hold  of  the  story, 
congratulated  themselves  on  the  whole  band  having  been 
scattered  to  hell  by  the  cowboys.  Such  is  the  affection 
that  men  who  own  cattle  bear  to  men  who  own  sheep  ! 
The  traditional  belief  is  that,  once  sheep  have  crossed  a 
range,  cattle  and  horses  leave  it.  There  is  a  foundation 
of  truth :  the  larger  stock  will  not  remain  on  the  same 
range  where  sheep  are  regularly  herded.  The  smell 
left  by  sheep  is  very  strong,  and,  I  suppose  offensive. 
But,  strangely  enough,  pigs — which  to  my  nose  smell 
worse — get  on  very  well  with  horses.  With  such  ob- 
jections, the  further  sheep  keep  away  the  better  pleased 
farmers  are.  In  some  counties  the  latter  have  passed 
laws  prohibiting  sheep  being  herded  within  ten  miles, 
or  some  such  limit,  of  a  dwelling. 

The  discord  in  camp  having  been  settled  left  me 
short-handed.  The  young  fellows  went  off  to  try  for 
the  more  congenial  occupation  of  cow-punching.  They 
had  one  pistol,  and  a  growing  ambition  to  distinguish 
themselves  by  breaking  the  law  somehow ;  their  lot  fell 
on  hard  places,  as  soon  after  I  received  letters  from 
three  of  them  offering  to  rejoin.  But  I  wished  to  hire 
older  men,  who  had  experience  in  sheep-driving,  and,  if 
possible,  knowledge  of  the  road  we  had  to  travel.  The 
only  chance  of  hiring  help  was  at  a  mining-town  some 
thirty  miles  off,  and  for  this  place  I  started  with  the 
foreman,  reaching  town  on  a  Saturday  evening. 

Next  day  we  found  two  men,  one  of  whom  had  had 
practice  with  sheep  ;  the  other  was  one  of  the  usual  all- 
round  men,  who  considered  that  he  could  do  most 
things,  and  vaunted  his  precise  knowledge  of  the  trails 


158  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

throughout  the  territories.  "No  one  could  fool  him  on 
the  road  !"  This  was  so  far  promising ;  we  had  only  to 
rejoin  the  herd,  get  the  wagon  over  the  mountain,  and 
make  a  start.  Previous  to  my  leaving  the  town,  the 
foreman,  who  had  discovered  an  old  friend,  asked  leave 
to  stop  behind  for  a  day,  and  refresh  memories  of  old 
times.  I  was  not  at  all  averse  to  his  having  a  good  time 
before  grappling  with  the  drudgery  that  was  before  us, 
and  sealed  my  consent  by  a  necessary  advance  of  coin. 
One  of  the  new-found  men  accompanied  me  in  the  buggy 
down  the  hill ;  the  other  with  the  foreman,  would  follow 
on  horseback  the  next  day.  The  new  man  accordingly 
turns  up,  but  the  foreman  has  stayed  behind,  and  rumor 
says  that  my  friend  was  last  seen  in  high  feather,  and 
unwilling  to  leave  his  paradise.  After  a  few  hours  a 
telegram  was  put  into  my  hand  "  to  come  at  once  or 
send  money."  As  neither  alternative  was  to  my  mind, 
and  either  would  have  been  an  absolute  waste,  I  de- 
clined. 

The  details  of  my  friend's  adventures  were  the  sub- 
ject of  a  humorous  article  in  the  local  paper.  The 
story  commenced  with  the  arrival  of  a  gentleman  with 
his  pet  herder,  who  is  described  of  a  festive  and  light- 
hearted  disposition,  foreign  to  the  conventional  type  of 
man  who  follows  the  melancholy  calling  of  tending 
sheep.  Some  business  having  been  transacted,  the 
former  left,  probably  with  the  intention  of  being  pres- 
ent at  divine  service  elsewhere,  while  the  festive  herder 
remained  to  delight  and  astonish  the  citizens.  Having 
invested  in  new  clothes  and  some  whiskey,  this  philoso- 
pher, who  gathered  roses  within  his  grasp,  exalted  him- 
self in  his  own  estimation,  first  to  the  position  of  part- 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  159 

ner  in  5000  sheep,  and  finally  to  the  complete  ownership 
of  10,000.  Notwithstanding  that  on  first  arrival  at  the 
hotel,  in  reply  to  some  question,  I  had  mentioned  that 
this  man  was  my  foreman,  he  was  clever  enough,  under 
the  inspiration  of  good  spirits,  to  induce  several  peo- 
ple to  advance  him  money.  On  this  fund  he  enter- 
tained a  choice  circle  of  friends,  old  and  new,  and 
caroused  for  a  couple  of  days.  Not  content  with  this 
game,  he  next  invited  two  ladies  to  join  his  fortunes, 
and  accompany  him  and  his  herd  to  Montana,  where 
they  would  all  live  happy,  healthy,  and  wealthy.  He 
explained  to  his  fair  friends  that  it  was  somehow  nec- 
essary to  assume  the  disguise  of  herders,  to  which  they 
agreed;  one  wearing  her  own  short  hair,  the  other  con- 
senting to  sacrifice  her  locks  to  the  situation.  The  fol- 
lowing morning  this  Don  Juan  mounted  his  two  candi- 
dates for  employment  on  the  horse  which  had  been  left 
to  bring  him  down,  and  well  primed  they  started 
down-hill,  leaving  his  debts  behind  them.  Unfortu- 
nately for  the  termination  of  this  comedy,  doubts  had 
fermented  in  the  minds  of  those  who  had  parted  with 
their  money;  the  law  was  put  in  action;  a  charge  of 
obtaining  money  on  false  pretences  was  sworn  against 
him,  and  the  sheriff  started  in  pursuit.  About  five 
miles  out  he  found  the  three  pilgrims  in  high  good 
humor,  and  regretfully  interrupted  the  hopeful  caval- 
cade by  presenting  his  warrant.  Our  hero  was  not 
daunted;  finding  a  soft  stone,  as  the  local  edition  as- 
serted, he  left  his  two  companions,  recommending  a 
little  patience  and  trust;  he  promised  to  settle  matters 
shortly,  and  to  relieve  them  speedily.  In  town  he  was 
I  believe,  unable  to  find  bail,  and  was  locked  up.  The 


l6o  PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES. 

disguised  ladies  must  have  looked  in  vain  for  the  dust 
of  his  coming,  and  finally  reckoned  they  would  return 
to  town.  The  story  of  their  appareling  and  adventures 
had  got  abroad,  so  that  when  the  grip  of  the  law  on 
their  protector  and  patron  was  added  to  the  programme, 
the  denouement  was  anticipated;  times  being  bad,  and 
the  town  full  of  idlers,  the  citizens  were  able  to  spare 
leisure  to  give  the  distressed  damsels  an  ovation,  and 
present  their  cordial  sympathies  in  the  shape  of  a  comic 
welcome.  Threats  of  dire  revenge  were  breathed 
against  the  deluder,  who,  however,  was  a  man  to  com- 
pel fortune;  he  satisfied  his  creditors;  the  case  was  not 
pressed,  and  with  an  undiminished  fund  of  assurance  he 
returned  to  camp  a  much  injured  man,  and  indignantly 
taxed  me  with  so  readily  withdrawing  my  confidence. 
His  anger  was,  however,  moderate;  he  really  was  not  a 
bad  fellow  in  the  main;  a  chance  of  a  good  salary,  and 
promotion  over  other  men,  turned  his  head,  and  his 
vanity  was  accentuated  by  whiskey.  His  powers  of 
persuasion  must  have  been  extraordinary  to  take  in  a 
lot  of  sensible  tradesmen  who  knew  nothing  of  him,  to 
confirm  his  representations,  and  to  induce  two  of  the 
unromantic  sex  to  lay  aside  rivalry,  and  cast  in  their 
lot  with  his.  He  succeeded  in  generally  pacifying  his 
creditors,  and  in  camp  borrowed  a  month's  wages  from 
one  of  the  boys,  who  not  only  knew  a  little  of  him,  but 
was  also  up  to  the  incidents  of  the  last  jink.  With  me 
he  squared  up  all  right.  He  had  been  a  spendthrift 
with  my  money,  but  had  not  misappropriated  any;  as 
he  put  it,  he  was  a  white  man,  and  so  he  was,  and  is 
so  still,  I  hope.  The  end  of  the  story  was  another  arti- 
cle in  the  newspaper,  which  I  was  afterwards  told  re- 


PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES.  l6l 

habilitated  me,  and  defended  my  reputation  from  un- 
friendly critics  as  having  any  share  in  the  farce.  What 
might  have  been  the  last  scenes  without  the  interrup- 
tion which  prevented  the  joyous  company  reaching 
camp,  was  amusing  to  contemplate. 

At  length  the  sun  and  the  weather  did  by  themselves 
what  the  collectors  of  the  tolls  would  do  nothing  to  ex- 
pedite— that  is,  clear  the  road  over  the  pass  for  wheel- 
traffic.  With  no  very  great  expenditure  a  way  might 
have  been  opened  ten  days  earlier,  but  with  a  monopoly 
the  main  business  is  to  receive ;  to  give  an  equivalent  is 
not  so  important.  We  rode  over  the  two  team-horses; 
the  road  appeared  passable.  We  met  a  wagon  going  to 
try  it  the  afternoon  we  arrived,  and  next  morning 
hitched  up  our  team.  With  a  little  skirting  round  snow- 
drifts, and  floundering  through"  sodden  ground,  we 
reached  the  top  of  the  pass.  The  road  down  was  all 
right  except  in  one  place,  where  deep  snow  lying  in  an 
elbow  of  the  road  necessitated  a  diversion.  The  cut-off 
was  a  sharp  descent;  the  hind-wheels  were  rough-locked, 
— that  is,  a  large-linked  chain  was  tied  round  the  rim  of 
the  wheel  in  such  a  way  that  the  wheel  rides  upon  the 
chain,  which  drags  along  and  cuts  into  the  ground;  the 
other  wheel  is  jammed  tight  with  the  brake,  the  horses 
are  turned  off  the  road,  and  the  wagon,  though  nearly 
empty,  slides  down  the  hill  in  great  style.  From  this 
point  there  was  no  further  trouble  all  the  way  to  camp. 

Everything  is  now  together.  On  the  23d  June  we 
make  ready  to  start.  The  stock  of  food  required  very 
little  to  be  added  to  it:  the  wagon  carries  a  ten-gallon 
barrel  for  water  on  either  side;  we  have  flour,  bacon, 
syrup,  beans  for  over  a  month.  The  price  of  commodi- 


l62  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

ties  in  Nevada  will  not  affect  us  for  some  time;  for  meat 
there  is  the  flock.  It  is  no  small  job  to  catch,  kill,  and 
skin  a  sheep  every  third  day.  Luckily  one  of  the  men  is 
an  expert,  for  the  boys  make  a  study  of  putting  work  on 
other  shoulders.  They  think  it  is  the  cook's  job;  the 
cook  on  the  other  hand  says,  "You  give  me  the  meat,  I 
cook  it." 

In  this  corner  of  California  there  is  a  network  of  toll- 
roads  which,  running  in  different  counties,  are  parcelled 
out  in  short  lengths.  Now,  as  roads  are  quite  unnces- 
sary  for  driving  sheep,  being  in  fact  rather  a  disadvan- 
tage, and  the  tolls  exceedingly  heavy,  it  was  a  prime 
necessity  to  avoid  them  as  much  as  possible.  Further 
on  there  was  a  strip  of  waterless  country,  called  the 
desert,  which  we  had  to  cross,  and  at  which  point  to  do 
this  with  least  harm  was  also  a  serious  question.  The 
roads  of  course  take  advantage  of  the  best  gaps  in  hill 
ranges,  and  of  the  easiest  river  crossings;  and  what  with 
a  rocky  pass  or  a  bridge  they  generally  succeed  in  com- 
pelling all  traffic  to  employ  them  at  some  point.  The 
possibility  of  stock  being  able  to  travel  along  the  hills  is 
checked  by  the  cross-fences  which  farmers  run  over  the 
Government  land  near  their  ranches.  Fortunately  one 
of  the  men  has  lived  for  some  time  in  the  locality,  and 
he  manages  to  steer  us  clear  of  all  toll-gates.  The  way 
is  crooked,  but  so  much  the  better,  that  in  avoiding 
towns  the  sheep  find  good  grazing. 

It  is  no  sinecure  to  manage  a  band  of  sheep;  so  many 
things  are  required,  while  the  distance  within  which 
they  must  be  found  is  limited  by  the  short  daily  jour- 
neys which  the  sheep  can  travel.  So  far  it  has  been 
fairly  easy  to  find  grazing  and  water,  but  after  entering 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  163 

Nevada  our  troubles  began.  You  must  manage  to  drive 
the  sheep  where  they  can  feed  as  they  move  along  in 
the  right  direction.  Before  noon  they  must  have  water. 
At  this  camping-ground  the  horses  will  require  grass, 
which  they  cannot  pick  up  on  the  scant  tufts  which  sat- 
isfy sheep.  In  the  afternoon  the  same  programme  for 
the  sheep;  and  for  the  bedding-ground  a  bare  open  spot, 
dry,  free  from  feed,  and  away  from  damp;  on  the  other 
hand,  the  horses  want  grass,  and  the  camp  wants  both 
water  and  fuel. 

At  times  the  wagon  cannot  follow  immediately  on  the 
tracks  of  the  herd,  but  while  these  take  a  short  cut  the 
wagon  has  to  go  round.  Here  is  an  opening  for  some 
one  to  go  wrong.  The  country  now  is  new  to  all  of  us; 
the  road  is  often  merely  a  trail  which  splits  and  divides. 
There  is  no  one  to  help  you  in  a  fix — you  must  judge  for 
yourself.  It  occurs,  therefore,  that  the  wagon  sometimes 
(not  often)  .goes  astray;  and  having  lodged  the  herd  in  a 
place  of  safety,  the  boss  must  go  off  and  hunt  the  wagon; 
or  if  piloting  the  wagon  he  must  hunt  the  sheep.  Peo- 
ple who  have  not  tried  it  cannot  understand  the  difficulty 
of  seeing  at  a  distance  even  so  many  as  five  thousand 
sheep  unless  they  are  close  together,  and  raising  a  vol- 
ume of  dust;  but  we  are  tolerably  lucky,  and  generally 
manage  to  hit  it  off;  and,  though  a  few  times  late,  we  got 
our  dinner  and  supper  regularly,  and  did  not  have  to 
sleep  out  of  our  beds  more  than  twice  on  the  whole 
journey. 

I  was  surprised  to  find  how  little  the  people  here- 
abouts seemed  to  know  about  the  country  roads  and 
trails,  even  within  twenty  miles  of  their  homes.  I  could 
not  find  any  one  who  had  crossed  the  desert,  or  who  had 


164  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

any  sound  information  on  the  subject;  whereas  in  the 
more  newly  settled  territories,  as  Wyoming  and  Montana, 
the  boys  seemed  to  be  at  home,  so  far  as  knowing  the 
roads,  over  the  whole  place.  Knowledge  of  the  country 
roads  has  decreased  considerably  wherever  the  railway 
has  supplanted  freighting.  The  freighters  are  a  special 
class,  who  have  much  to  tell  of  the  glories  of  the  road  in 
the  days  gone  by,  and  of  the  money  to  be  made  in  carry- 
ing goods  from  the  terminus  of  the  railway  to  the  min- 
ing towns,  which  were  in  the  full  swing  of  prosperity. 
The  freighting  was  done  either  with  ox-teams,  or  horses 
and  mules.  The  former  moved  in  ponderous  convoys  in 
charge  of  a  boss;  the  men,  nicknamed  "bull-whackers," 
travelled  on  foot.  This  profession  never  reached  any 
degree  of  eminence;  on  the  contrary,  the  man  who  had 
charge  of  twenty-four  horses  or  mules,  drawing  three 
heavily  laden  wagons,  one  behind  the  other,  was  a  re- 
sponsible person,  and  knew  his  value.  The  property  in 
his  trust  was  considerable. 

It  was  really  a  grand  sight  to  see  a  string  of  well-fed 
mules  with  their  massive  harness  coupled  to  the  long- 
drag  chain.  The  driver  is  seated  on  the  near-wheeler, 
with  leather  leggings  on,  and  a  broad-brimmed  hat;  his 
whip  hangs  round  his  neck;  he  composedly  rolls  a  cigar- 
ette while  he  watches  that  each  mule  does  his  share  of 
work.  The  leaders  are  well  trained,  particularly  the  near 
one;  to  his  bit  a  check-line  is  attached,  which  travels 
back  over  all  the  near  mules  to  the  driver.  A  steady 
pull  turns  the  trained  mule  to  the  left,  while  two  slight 
twitches  turns  him  right.  A  light  iron  bar  connects  his 
collar  to  the  bit  of  his  companion,  who  is  thus  guided; 
the  others  all  follow;  the  wheelers  are  saved  to  steer  the 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  165 

wagon  past  ruts  and  hard  places:  the  team  with  short 
steps  develop  great  power,  and  work  admirably  together. 

The  front  wagon  is  enormously  heavy  and  strong,  and 
carries  a  proportionate  load.  If  not  more  than 'two 
others  follow  they  are  also  of  extra  size  ;  they  are  con- 
nected each  to  the  hind-axle  of  the  wagon  ;  in  front  by 
a  short  pole.  The  brakes  are  very  large,  and  can  be 
worked  by  a  rope  at  the  end  of  a  lever,  which  comes 
forward  to  within  reach  of  the  driver's  hand.  Should 
the  road  be  difficult  or  hilly  an  extra  man  is  carried, 
whose  duty  on  the  journey  is  to  look  after  the  brakes. 

There  is  an  enormous  saving  of  human  labor  in  this 
system  of  freighting.  It  requires  a  man  of  resolution, 
readiness,  and  self-reliance  to  tackle  it.  The  roads  at 
all  times  are  bad  ;  the  more  they  are  travelled  the  worse 
they  become  ;  the  wheels  cut  deep  ruts  till  the  bed  of 
the  wagon  drags  on  the  natural  surface  of  the  ground, 
and  a  new  trail  must  be  picked  out,  which  in  the  absence 
of  any  engineering  is  a  hazardous  experiment.  In  the 
winter,  when  the  snow  covers  the  bad  places,  the  perils 
increase,  and  a  sidling  bit  of  ground,  with  a  coating  of 
ice,  threatens  the  whole  convoy  with  a  swift  descent  to 
Avernus,  which  can  sometimes  only  be  avoided  by  a 
quick  wrench  up-hill  of  the  wheelers  in  order  to  overturn 
the  wagon,  and  so  save  the  team  and  goods. 

In  the  West  there  is  no  such  thing  as  a  made  road  ;  at 
best  there  are  a  few  bridges  near  the  towns.  Some  one 
who  knows  the  country  first  ventures  with  a  wagon, 
probably  out  hunting  stock  ;  the  wheel-tracks  direct 
others  ;  by  degrees  a  defined  trail  is  formed.  This  trail 
is  continually  liable  to  interruption  ;  either  cut  across  by 
small  ravines,  or  the  melting  of  the  snow  in  the  spring 


1 66  PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES. 

send  a  stream  of  water  along  the  deeply  scored  trail, 
thus  entirely  destroying  it ;  the  wagons  have  to  hunt  a 
road  to  one  side.  In  driving  along  a  strange  road  you 
must  be  continually  on  the  alert  to  notice  if  fresh  wheel- 
tracks  break  out  to  a  side,  and  to  guess  the  reason  there- 
of ;  the  general  advice  is  to  follow  the  last  wheel-tracks, 
otherwise  you  may  be  following  an  old  trail  which  ends 
in  a  tight  place.  Often  you  will  find  yourself  on  an 
apparently  unnecessary  loop  ;  the  track  is  right  square 
ahead,  but  by-and-by  you  pass  the  skin  and  bones  of  an 
ox  or  horse  which  had  died  in  its  tracks  ;  it  never 
occurred  to  the  owner  to  drag  it  off  the  path,  and  in 
consequence  all  subsequent  travellers  have  had  to  leave 
the  road  and  clear  a  new  line  through  the  bush.  The 
most  tiresome  driving  is  through  sage-bush  ;  this  is  often 
strong,  and  holds  solidly  ;  it  requires  good  steering,  and 
a  hard-working  team. 

After  passing  north  of  Aurora,  for  a  short  time  a 
flourishing  mining  town,  now  the  most  desolate-looking 
collection  of  deserted  houses  and  dejected  inhabitants, 
we  follow  an  old  road  to  Belleville.  The  scenery  is 
varied  and  interesting  as  we  climb  small  ranges,  but 
water  is  scarce,  and  we  begin  to  experience  the  bother 
of  dry  camps  and  a  thirsty  herd  ;  we  are  lucky  in  that 
we  have  enough  water  for  ourselves  ;  found  sometimes 
in  a  hole  or  well  in  which  it  is  green  with  alkali,  or  in  an 
out-of-the-way  spring,  where  a  little  clear  water  rises  and 
runs  for  a  few  yards.  It  takes  an  hour  to  ladle  up 
enough  to  fill  our  casks,  and  give  the  horses  a  drink. 
From  midday  on  the  28th  the  sheep  got  no  water  till 
they  strike  a  stream  late  in  the  evening  of  the  3oth,  when 


PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES.  167 

they  rush  in  and  convert  the  quiet  willow-lined  ravine 
into  a  very  pandemonium,  running  up  and  down  the 
valley,  baaing,  trampling  the  young  grass  which  we  are 
trying  to  save,  at  one  end,  for  the  horses,  gorging  them- 
selves with  willow  leaves,  and  striving  to  break  away 
in  a  dozen  places, — manoeuvres  with  which  we  have  to 
contend  in  the  dark  ;  rolling  stones  down  into  the  murky 
bottom  at  one  time,  then  heading  them  off  on  the  hill- 
side. At  last  they  quiet  down,  and  we  are  glad  of  it. 
Midday  the  2d  July  the  sheep  again  had  a  chance  of 
watering  at  some  sulphur  springs.  The  water  smelt 
very  strongly  of  sulphuretted  hydrogen,  but  was  other- 
wise clear.  A  bucketful,  that  stood  all  night,  was  in 
the  morning  perfectly  free  from  any  taint  of  the  gas. 
There  was  plenty  of  swamp  grass;  the  sheep  therefore 
had  enough  to  eat  and  drink,  which  enough  was  of  a 
doubtful  quality.  Next  morning  we  crossed  the  flat  bot- 
tom of  the  valley,  nearly  a  mile  wide,  covered  with  a  cake 
of  white  and  glittering  borax  ;  then  up  a  steep  hill,  and 
camped  not  far  from  Belleville.  No*  water  for  the  sheep 
at  this  place,  as  one  may  guess  when  told  that  it  is 
bought  in  town  at  two  cents  a  gallon,  for  the  purposes  of 
washing  and  drinking. 

Belleville  is  a  busy  little  place.  The  mill-hands,  who 
superintend  the  crushing,  etc.,  of  the  ore,  receive  six 
dollars  a  day.  It  costs  them  most  of  their  money  to  live; 
in  addition,  the  work  is  so  poisonous,  that  even  with 
precautions,  such  as  covering  their  mouth  with  a  sponge 
while  in  the  mill,  few  are  able  to  work  more  than  six 
weeks  without  falling  sick. 

It  is  the  4th  of  July  ;  the  hotels  spread  a  Sunday  din- 


1 68  PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES. 

ner,  and  every  heart  rejoices.  It  matters  little  whether 
American  or  foreigner,  all  enjoy  the  holiday,  and  are 
pleased  to  commemorate  in  whiskey  the  4th  of  July. 

That  evening  the  sheep  get  water ;  at  night  a  large 
bunch  skip  out  and  take  to  the  hills,  probably  with  the 
intention  of  returning  to  California.  Stock  are  always 
restless  at  first  on  a  drive,  and  are  striving  to  get  back 
on  their  home-ranges.  It  takes  the  whole  day  to  hunt 
them,  but  by  evening  they  are  recovered.  We  are  on 
the  edge  of  the  desert,  and  can  hope  for  no  more  water 
for  forty  miles  ;  this  mischance  was  unlucky,  as  it  took 
a  long  day's  journey  out  of  half  the  band  without  any 
corresponding  gain.  Unfortunately  we  trusted  to  the 
men  sleeping  round  the  herd  to  hold  them,  instead  of 
maintaining  the  regular  sentry  watches  which  I  had  first 
instituted.  It  was  a  great  mistake,  and  a  practice  I  con- 
sented to  against  my  judgment.  Nothing  keeps  stock  so 
quiet  as  a  man  moving  round  them  ;  they  lie  still  and 
are  refreshed,  both  by  sleep  and  by  rest  to  their  legs  ; 
which  rest  they  lose  if  they  are  fidgety  and  moving  about, 
hunting  food  or  changing  beds,  at  the  instance  of  fancy 
or  of  disturbance. 

The  San  Antonio  desert  can  be  crossed  in  several 
places,  but  nowhere  is  it  less  than  forty  miles  unless  you 
skirt  its  upper  end,  to  do  which  you  must  go  round  the 
sink  of  the  Carson  River,  which  adds  to  the  length  of  the 
whole  route.  It  is  not  a  desert  in  the  sense  of  a  sandy 
waste,  for  a  good  deal  of  bunch-grass  grows  in  little  tufts 
throughout  ;  but  water  there  is  none,  except  in  rare  tiny 
springs  far  up  in  the  hills.  Along  the  road  we  intend  to 
travel  there  are  some  of  these  small  springs  which  will 
suffice  for  the  camp  and  the  horses  ;  the  sheep  must  do 


PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES.  169 

without  till  we  reach  the  further  side  ;  for  ourselves,  too, 
we  must  often  carry  water.  What  with  two  barrels,  two 
sheet-iron  drums,  four  milk-cans,  and  a  few  smaller  ves- 
sels, we  can  start  with  as  much  as  forty  gallons. 

In  this  matter  of  crossing  the  desert  an  ounce  of  ex- 
perience is  worth  a  ton  of  theory.  Sheep  should  be 
moved  quietly,  very  early  in  the  morning  and  late  at 
night.  On  two  occasions  we  let  them  camp  too  near  the 
little  springs  on  which  we  depended  ;  there  would  not 
have  been  a  spoonful  apiece  for  a  very  small  portion  of 
the  band,  but  they  were  disturbed  the  whole  night,  and 
fighting  to  reach  the  water.  None  of  us  had  crossed  a 
desert  before  ;  and  as  for  useful  knowledge,  a  Mexican, 
who  spoke  little  English,  was  the  only  one  among  the 
boys  who  really  understood  sheep.  He,  however,  could 
not  take  in  the  situation,  and,  to  my  amusement,  attacked 
me  in  broken  English  to  the  effect  that  I  was  doing  all 
wrong  ;  the  sheep  wanted  water  every  day — at  nine  and 
at  four.  This  improvement  he  suggested  in  a  country 
where  you  could  not  have  dipped  a  pint-mug  into  water 
within  twenty  miles. 

Before  starting,  the  trail  across  the  desert  was  ex- 
plained by  a  resident  who  used  to  cross  some  time  back, 
and  I  hired  a  young  fellow  who  offered  to  point  out  the 
way,  which  he  said  he  had  in  part  followed,  and  in  part 
had  been  shown.  He  was  a  very  decent  young  fellow, 
but,  like  the  usual  citizen,  took  his  money  and  did  not 
fulfil  his  share  of  the  bargain.  He  left  us  at  the  only 
point  where  there  was  a  doubt  ;  the  road  turning  sharply 
to  the  left,  leaving  the  dry  bed  of  a  water-course  and 
mounting  on  the  high  ground.  He  pointed  out  a  de- 
tached, fantastic-shaped  mountain  to  the  south,  as  lying 


PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES. 


in  the  direction  we  should  follow  ;  whereas  the  road 
wound  round  the  foot  of  another  isolated  hill  —  not  unlike 
the  one  he  selected  —  which  stood  to  the  east,  and  was  at 
the  time  out  of  sight.  He  no  doubt  wished  to  earn  a  few 
dollars,  and,  after  being  out  one  day,  was  in  a  hurry  to 
return  home.  With  this  misdirection,  which  was  sup- 
ported by  other  details,  the  sheep  were  driven  several 
miles  south  on  the  wrong  road  ;  half  a  day  was  lost  in 
looking  for  the  right  way,  and  towards  sunset  I  decided 
to  follow  a  trail  which  went  east,  and  seemed  to  be  the 
most  likely  direction  to  follow.  This  choice  proved 
correct. 

Next  noon  we  reached  a  divide,  where  we  might  ex- 
pect to  find  a  spring  from  the  general  description  given 
us.  As,  however,  we  were  not  absolutely  certain  that 
we  were  on  the  right  trail,  although  travelling  in 
the  "proper  direction,  and  there  was  no  spring,  I  had 
to  mount  and  push  on  ahead  until  I  should  reach  some- 
thing, either  settlement  or  ranch  or  water.  After  riding 
ten  miles  I  came  on  a  few  pools,  called  Black  Springs, 
enough  to  water  half-a-dozen  head  of  stock,  that  would 
take  their  time  —  not  all  drink  together  —  and  not  too 
proud  to  quench  their  thirst  with  an  admixture  of  sul- 
phur and  mud.  Satisfied  now  on  the  score  of  the  road 
we  were  following,  I  go  on  another  eight  miles,  taking  a 
right-hand  fork,  and  reach  a  river-bed  lined  with  willows; 
there  is  no  water,  which  has  all  been  absorbed  by  the 
irrigation  of  a  farm  called  Cloverdale.  This  was  disas- 
trous ;  here  was  to  have  been  our  watering-place  at  the 
end  of  forty  miles.  I  find  we  must  go  yet  seven  miles 
further. 

Having  ascertained  the  lie  of  the  country,  and  noted 


PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES.  17 1 

the  direction  the  sheep  must  follow,  I  return  to  the  band 
which  has  come  down  to  the  Black  Springs.  We  try  to 
dam  up  water  sufficient  to  let  the  sheep  have  a  drink;  but 
the  spring  is  too  weak,  the  sheep  will  rush  in,  and  in  a 
minute  trample  into  slush  any  little  water  collected. 
The  sheep  by  this  time  were  suffering  a  good  deal  from 
thirst  under  a  July  sun,  with  dry  food,  as  the  grass  they 
found  was  no  longer  green;  they  looked  shrivelled,  and 
moved  lazily.  Those  we  killed  had  still  a  little  internal 
fat.  Many  of  the  sheep  quite  overcame  their  fear  of 
man,  and  would  push  their  way  into  camp  attracted  by 
the  smell  of  the  water  in  barrels,  and  would  drink  greedily 
any  little  quantity  of  dirty  water  which  had  been  used 
for  washing.  Notwithstanding  our  many  water-cans, 
with  men,  horses,  and  dogs,  we  had  to  be  very  sparing 
of  the  fluid,  and  little  could  be  allowed  for  washing,  ex- 
cept in  favor  of  the  cook.  If  the  sheep  were  camped 
near  the  wagon  the  smell  of  the  water  we  carried  was 
enough  to  make  those  near  very  restless,  and  it  was  all 
we  could  do  to  keep  them  away  from  the  wagon. 

The  trouble  we  had  at  the  Black  Springs  may  be 
guessed.  Although  the  band  was  taken  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  away  they  fought  us  all  night  long  to  try  and  reach 
the  mud-holes;  two  men  could  scarcely  hold  them  through 
the  night,  and  in  the  morning  they  break  all  restraint, 
and  go  madly  for  the  spring.  Not  a  hundred,  probably, 
wet  their  noses;  a  dozen  or  so  discover  where  the  spring 
rises,  and  as  a  thread  of  clear  water  bubbles  up  here  they 
fight  to  reach  it,  trampling  over  each  other,  and  many 
sticking  fast  in  the  mud.  While  they  were  all  jostling 
and  struggling  we  are  trying  to  drag  those  out  of  the 
mud  who  are  not  strong  enough  to  save  themselves. 


1 72  PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES. 

With  the  help  of  the  dogs  we  drive  the  herd  away  and 
take  them  forward  on  their  journey;  but  all  the  night's 
restlessness  has  told  upon  them;  they  are  tired  and 
travel  slowly.  The  following  night,  having  no  water  to 
disturb  them,  they  are  quiet. 

It  was  a  specially  difficult  year  for  driving;  there  was 
a  very  dry  winter  which  reduced  all  the  springs,  while 
the  late  storms  in  March  had  delayed  the  opening  of  a 
road  across  the  Sierras.  In  ordinary  years  we  would 
have  been  crossing  the  desert  more  than  a  fortnight 
earlier.  The  sun  was  extremely  hot,  and  during  the 
noon-day  halt  the  men  would  build  themselves  some 
shade.  The  Mexican,  as  an  experienced  man,  taught 
us  all.  He  would  fix  on  a  bush,  or  a  couple  which  grew 
not  far  apart,  break  away  the  branches  at  the  foot  and 
pile  them  on  top;  over  these  he  would  spread  his  coat; 
then  he  would  scrape  away  the  upper  surface  of  hot  sand 
till  he  came  to  the  fresh-feeling  ground  beneath;  a  shady 
little  hut  was  thus  soon  put  together  in  which  the  heat 
was  not  too  unbearable. 

On  the  i2th  we  passed  Cloverdale  and  made  for  Indian 
Gulch.  The  sheep  were  now  weak  and  stupid.  Next 
day  I  hoped  they  would  reach  water;  they  were  a  long 
time  coming  in,  and  the  last  of  the  band  were  not  brought 
to  camp  till  eight  or  nine  at  night.  The  men  were  tired, 
and  did  not  bunch  up  the  sheep  as  we  usually  did,  so 
that  the  watchman  could  walk  easily  all  round.  Partly 
to  avoid  hustling  the  sheep,  those  that  came  in  last  were 
allowed  to  be  a  little  spread;  in  the  night  a  large  number 
again  deserted,  while  we  thought  they  were  too  tired  to 
move.  In  the  morning,  unaware  of  what  had  happened, 
I  started  out  in  advance  to  survey  the  stream  in  which 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

at  last  we  would  find  water  and  see  what  dangers  awaited 
us  there.  Rejoining  the  herd  I  found  them  nooning 
among  bushes  and  on  certain  detached  rocks  at  the 
foot  of  the  hill  to  which  they  had  been  attracted  by 
small  patches  of  shade.  They  crowded  upon  one  an- 
other, trampling  the  weaker,  and  sometimes  slipping  off 
the  rocks;  but  what  struck  me  at  once  was  the  smallness 
of  the  band.  The  men  had  driven  them  all  the  morning 
and  had  found  out  nothing.  A  man  was  started  off  at 
once  on  the  back  trail  to  follow  the  strays,  which  most 
probably  had  made  for  the  last  springs. 

In  the  evening  we  tried  to  bring  the  band  on  toward 
water,  which  was  now  not  three  miles  distant.  The  great 
heat  of  the  day  was  over;  the  high  hills  threw  a  good 
shadow  across  the  pass;  but  the  sheep,  oppressed  by  the 
long,  close,  sunny  hours,  and  weak  from  want  of  water 
and  food — for  they  were  disinclined  to  eat,  not  getting 
drink — refused  to  move,  apparently  preferring  to  suc- 
cumb quietly  without  further  ado,  or  at  all  events  to 
wait  for  night.  We  vainly  strove  to  startle  them  into  a 
little  life;  the  more  unwilling  ones  we  lifted  on  to  their 
legs — they  were  very  light;  others  we  pushed  bodily. 
We  drove  them  out  of  the  bushes  and  down  from  the 
rocks,  and  headed  them  toward  the  road  near  which 
they  were  lying;  it  was  all  in  vain.  The  few  we  forced 
to  move  would  slink  round  a  bush  and  return  to  lie  down 
with  their  companions.  The  dry  bed  of  the  river  was,  I 
fancy,  a  little  cool  and  damp;  this  they  would  not  leave. 
Luckily  a  small  band  of  about  a  hundred  came  up  op- 
portunely. They  had  taken  shelter  from  the  sun  under 
a  tree  in  the  morning  where  they  had  been  left;  these 
travelled  more  freely  as  they  wished  to  rejoin  the  herd. 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 


Seeing  them  coming  on,  we  took  the  greatest  precaution 
to  prevent  their  mixing  with  the  main  body,  and  suc- 
ceeding in  keeping  them  moving  steadily  along  the  road; 
one  at  a  time  the  others  unwillingly  rose  to  follow  them. 
We  worked  and  worked  hard  in  the  stifling  heat  and 
dust  among  the  bushes,  drove  bunch  by  bunch  forward 
so  as  always  to  have  some  sheep  on  the  road  and  to  keep 
the  line  unbroken,  for  it  was  only  so  long  as  the  sheep 
saw  others  stepping  out  in  front  that  they  would  follow. 

The  longest  day  comes  to  an  end.  Heartily  tired  of 
the  game,  we  saw  the  last  sheep  well  on  the  road,  and 
then  went  ahead  to  ascertain  how  the  band  had  fared 
after  reaching  water.  They  had  come  upon  it  at  first  in 
small  pools  in  the  bed  between  steep  but  not  very  high 
banks,  which  were  covered  with  thick  willow  and  rose- 
bushes. Following  up  the  pools  they  met  the  tail-end 
of  the  stream,  and  in  the  usual  disorderly  rout  had 
rushed  in.  The  bottom  was  pebbly,  and  the  herd  mount- 
ed the  stream  so  that  the  water  was  little  disturbed. 
After  a  drink  they  had  fallen  to  on  the  willows,  bushes, 
and  grass,  of  which  there  was  plenty,  and  they  now 
looked  new  beings  ;  they  were  well  filled-out,  bright, 
lively,and  not  much  worse  than  when  they  started  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  desert.  The  place  was  good  enough 
for  a  day's  halt,  so  I  left  the  band  there  in  the  keep  of 
the  men,  and  went  back  to  give  what  help  was  necessary 
in  bringing  in  those  which  had  strayed. 

After  going  more  than  half-way  to  the  springs  I  met 
the  boy  with  some  1500  head  ;  these  had,  during  the 
night,  travelled  a  distance  which  had  taken  them  two 
days  to  come,  and  had  apparently  quenched  their  thirst 
at  the  insignificant  spring;  anyhow  they  travelled  fairly 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  175 

well.  We  corralled  them  that  night  at  the  farm,  hav- 
ing neither  food  nor  blankets  of  our  own,  and  as  we 
wanted  some  rest,  and  the  sheep  were  squeezing  through 
the  bars,  I  hired  two  Indians  to  "  heap  watch  'em"  during 
the  night.  We  made  an  early  start  next  day,  and  that 
evening  the  band  was  all  together  again.  So  far  as  I 
could  judge  going  along  the  road  no  excessive  number 
had  died,  notwithstanding  our  misadventures.  The  prin- 
cipal loss  arose  from  the  sheep  crowding  on  each  other 
during  the  noontide  halt,  when  the  weaker  ones  were 
trampled  down;  probably  some  two  hundred  sheep  had 
been  thus  killed  in  the  last  two  days.  Before  that  time 
there  was  no  loss,  or  a  very  trifling  one.  The  .men  in 
camp  had  taken  matters  coolly — resting,  eating,  and  sleep- 
ing, and  not  watching  the  herd.  The  constant  principle  of 
the  American  help  is  that  work,  unless  compelled  thereto, 
should  be  avoided;  and  all  the  world  over  there  are  no 
men  so  intelligently  idle  as  those  who  have  gone  West 
out  of  Iowa,  Missouri,  and  the  neighboring  States. 

The  next  few  days  we  had  plenty  of  feed  and  water; 
the  road  went  down  Reese  River  to  Austin.  I  got  acount 
on  the  way  down,  which  I  had  not  been  able  to  do  since 
leaving  the  stationary  camp  near  the  Nevadas;  the  total 
of  the  band  had  diminished,  but  how  or  where  was  im- 
possible to  say.  It  seemed  best  to  accept  past  mishaps 
and  take  better  care  in  future;  our  late  experience  aiding 
us,  we  succeeded  better,  and  there  were  no  other  losses 
up  to  the  crossing  of  the  Central  Pacific  Railway. 

It  would  not  be  in  the  least  interesting  to  detail  from 
day  to  day  the  recurring  duties  and  recurring  annoy- 
ances. Nevada  is  a  thirsty  land;  the  little  water  to  be 
found  along  the  road  is  being  monopolized  by  indi- 


1 76  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

viduals,  so  that  stock  of  all  sorts,  but  more  particularly 
sheep,  which  are  violently  disliked  by  farmers,  have  a 
bad  time  following  the  emigrant  trail.  Where  there  are 
rivers,  the  water  is  taken  out  for  irrigation,  and  the  ap- 
proaches to  the  banks  fenced.  On  some  of  the  down- 
stream farms,  the  people,  after  the  spring  freshets,  must 
content  themselves  with  very  little  water;  the  upper 
sluices  may  be  closed  once  a  week,  to  allow  a  supply  to 
run  down  to  them,  which  supply  has  to  be  ponded,  and 
is  then  unfit  in  a  few  days  for  most  uses.  If  the  sage- 
bush  is  cleaned  off  and  the  land  irrigated,  good  crops  of 
wheat,  barley,  and  meadow  grass  are  gathered.  Vege- 
tables might  be  grown,  but  these  are  troublesome  to  cul- 
tivate, and  it  is  not  worth  while  to  make  butter  or  keep 
poultry.  Out  of  the  valley  bottoms  the  country  is  miser- 
ably poor;  nothing  grows  but  scrub  sage-bush,  and  a 
little  grass  which  is  found  mixed  with  it.  The  value  of 
this  grass  as  food  for  stock  is  lost,  as  there  is  no  water 
for  the  animals  within  a  far  distance,  since  the  enclosures 
and  application  of  the  river.  The  only  towns  within 
reach  are  mining  centres;  they  help  us  to  replenish  pro- 
visions, which  are,  I  think,  dearer  here  than  in  any  part 
of  the  Northwest  of  the  States. 

On  the  way  into  Austin  we  send  the  sheep  round  into  a 
canyon  for  water,  which  used  to  flow  down  to  the  road, 
but  the  rights  of  the  owner  below  had  been  bought  up, 
and,  the  public  having  no  rights,  any  one  driving  into 
town  has  now  fifteen  miles  to  travel  without  being  able 
to  water  his  horses.  Such  arrangements  are  no  doubt 
of  a  serious  inconvenience  to  a  good  many  people,  but 
no  one  complains.  Hereafter  the  road  may  be  altered, 
or  if  water  is  brought  down  the  proprietor  will  be  com- 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  ,177 

f\ 

pensated.  The  herd  had  to  be  steered  over  the  hills 
skirting  Austin,  which  itself  lies  in  a  steep  ravine;  there 
was  no  want  of  food  or  water  near  the  town,  but  in  one 
place  they  came  across  some  poisonous  plant  of  which 
one  or  two  died. 

The  day  we  left,  the  sheep  made  a  morning  march  to 
the  top  of  the  pass,  from  which  the  road  descends  into 
Emigrant  Gulch,  while  I  was  fully  occupied  in  buying 
stores,  having  repairs  done  to  the  wagon,  the  horses 
shod,  etc.  Early  in  the  afternoon  I  ride  out  alongside 
the  wagon  to  show  the  driver  the  way  out  of  the  houses 
and  mills ;  and  when  clear  of  any  chance  of  taking  a 
wrong  turn,  I  push  on  ahead  to  the  band  which  are  at 
no  great  distance,  and  bid  the  driver  to  follow  up  and 
give  us  dinner,  for  which  we  are  hungry  enough  after 
breakfasting  at  something  like  five  A.M.  We  wait  a  long 
time  ;  it  is  getting  sensibly  cooler ;  the  sheep  are  wak- 
ing up  from  nooning,  and  must  soon  be  taken  out  along 
the  trail.  I  ride  hastily  down  the  road,  and  discover 
that  at  a  very  short  distance  from  where  I  had  left  the 
driver,  his  resolution  had  failed  ;  the  attractions  behind 
were  too  tempting, — the  wheel-marks  swung  round  and 
went  back  to  town.  A  little  nearer  town  I  met  one  of 
the  other  boys  driving  the  wagon,  which  he  had  found 
with  the  horses  in  a  livery-stable.  My  cook  and  most 
useful  man  was  last  seen  in  a  saloon,  trying  samples  of 
whiskey  and  lager  beer ;  quite  happy.  He  turned  up 
next  day  for  his  balance  of  pay,  and  to  recover  his 
clothes,  but  it  suited  him  to  rejoin,  of  which  I  was  glad. 
In  the  mean  time  the  Mexican  had  officiated  as  cook, 
preparing  savory  dishes,  quite  undreamed  of  before  ; 
they  were  good,  but  so  rich  that  in  the  three  days  he 


i;8  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

practised  on  us  he  made  me  ill.  The  mutton  of  these 
merino  sheep  seemed  to  me  very  good,  but  the  boys  pre- 
ferred both  beef  and  salt  pork  to  it ;  even  the  beef  was 
thought  the  better  for  a  smack  of  bacon,  which  it  ac- 
quired by  being  fried  in  grease  instead  of  its  own  fat. 

The  food  out  West  in  camp  is  simple  and  coarse. 
Nothing  but  the  wonderfully  pure  air  and  hard  exercise 
would  make  it  palatable  to  or  digestible  by  the  ordinary 
mortal.  There  is,  however,  no  choice — rich  or  poor, 
master  or  man,  all  sit  down  to  the  same  provisions,  fare 
alike,  and,  I  may  add,  enjoy  their  food.  The  stock  for 
camp  consists  of  flour,  baking-powder,  necessary  but 
more  or  less  deleterious,  coffee,  tea,  sugar,  and  bacon. 
With  a  wagon  we  can  afford  to  carry  tins  of  tomato, 
green  corn,  and  fruit,  a  bag  of  rice  and  beans,  some 
dried  apples  and  peaches,  and  a  gallon  of  syrup.  These 
are  luxuries  ;  more  would  be  superfluous.  The  bacon 
serves  the  double  purpose  of  supplying  grease,  in  which 
to  fry  any  meat  or  fish  we  can  get  on  the  road,  or  of 
taking  their  place  when  the  fresh  meat  is  unobtainable. 

This  bacon  is  extremely  coarse  in  flavor  and  quality  ; 
it  is  often  pungent  and  disagreeable  to  the  untutored 
palate.  It  is  mostly  shipped  from  Chicago  in  the  shape 
of  large  flat  sides.  The  mass  of  the  pigs  have  been  fat- 
tened, as  the  Americans  say,  behind  the  steers  ;  that  is, 
in  the  Western  States,  where  a  great  deal  of  Indian  corn 
is  grown,  it  is  used  to  best  advantage  in  feeding  cattle  ; 
to  each  steer  are  added  two  pigs,  who  thrive  on  the  un- 
digested particles  of  corn,  and  any  scraps  thrown  out  of 
the  bins.  Those  who  trust  in  the  chemistry  of  nature 
would  do  well  never  to  inquire  closely  injto  the  previous 
f  )od-history  of  the  animals  which  supply  our  table. 


PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES.  179 

There  is,  however,  a  direct  relation  between  coarse  food 
and  coarse  flesh  ;  the  bacon  sent  out  West  is  certainly 
the  nastiest  of  its  kind  in  the  world — to  adopt  the  stand- 
ard of  comparison  most  generally  applied  by  the  Ameri- 
cans. A  slightly  better  quality  is  sold  in  smaller  joints, 
wrapped  in  yellow  waterproof  cloth,  and  styled  break- 
fast bacon. 

The  flour  is  almost  always  good.  It  is  sold  in  bags  of 
fifty  or  one  hundred  pounds.  The  bags  not  in  imme- 
diate use  are  great-coated  in  gunny  bags,  and  put  away 
in  the  bottom  of  the  wagon,  safe  from  rain  and  the  nib- 
bling of  the  horses  or  mules;  which  at  night  will  often 
search  the  wagon  for  the  barley.  To  make  bread  the 
flour  is  mixed  with  baking-powder  and  salt,  water  is 
added,  and  the  dough  kneaded.  It  is  baked  in  a  Dutch 
oven,  which  is  a  cast-iron  pan  on  three  legs  ;  the  cover 
is  concave,  to  hold  hot  ashes;  fire  is  also  put  underneath; 
the  baking  does  not  take  long  if  not  much  water  has 
been  used.  So  soon  as  one  loaf  is  ready  another  lump 
of  dough  takes  its  place.  This  is  the  most  troublesome 
part  of  the  cook's  duty,  and  he  avoids  doing  it  more 
than  once  a  day.  Fresh  meat  is  cut  in  slices  and  fried, 
either  in  its  own  fat,  or  in  bacon  grease.  As  to  the  other 
mysteries  of  the  kitchen,  they  need  not  be  revealed  here; 
to  discover  and  to  learn  them  may  form  part  of  the  pro- 
ject of  any  one  starting  out  on  the  prairies.  But  one 
mixture  is  so  strange  that  it  must  be  mentioned,  and 
may  perhaps  deserve  imitation.  It  has  many  names  ; 
the  most  harmless  is,  perhaps,  prairie  butter.  When  the 
meat  is  fried,  if  any  grease  remain  in  the  pan,  add  flour 
and  water,  stir,  and  mix  thoroughly  till  you  produce  a 
frothy  batter;  spread  this  on  your  bread,  and,  if  of  my 


ISO  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

taste — leave  it.  It  is  less  troublesome  to  make  than 
butter,  which  can  be  the  only  excuse  for  its  appearance 
in  a  ranch  ;  on  the  road  one  cannot  always  help  one's- 
self. 

The  cook's  chief  qualities  should  be  cleanliness  and 
despatch;  skill  comes  third;  it  requires  so  little,  and  the 
boys  are  so  hungry.  When  the  meat  is  fried  and  the 
coffee  boiled,  a  piece  of  oil-cloth  is  stretched  on  the 
ground,  and  the  necessary  number  of  plates,  tin  cups, 
knives,  forks,  and  spoons  are  set  out;  the  word  is  given, 
"Grub  pile";  every  man  washes  his  face  and  hands,  and, 
seizing  his  convert,  he  helps  himself  and  eats;  the  cook 
hands  round  coffee.  After  the  meat  a  clean  place  is 
scraped  in  one  corner  of  the  plate  for  syrup,  fruit,  or 
pudding,  so  long  as  these  luxuries  hold  out.  The  boys 
are  moderate,  except  when  anything  new  tickles  their 
palate;  then  they  like  to  finish  it  at  once.  If  then  the 
wagon  comes  within  reach  they  ransack  the  mess-box, 
and  supplement  three  hearty  meals  by  an  extra  lunch. 
The  cook,  however,  should  be  a  despot,  and  stand  them 
off;  this  raid  upsets  his  calculations,  and  may  lead  to  a 
second  baking.  It  is  the  same  with  whiskey;  no  self- 
control  will  prevent  them  finishing  any  given  quantity 
at  best  speed,  thought  it  is  all  theirs  and  might  easily 
last  longer.  The  meat  in  camp  is  always  better  than 
what  is  given  in  small  towns,  where  the  butchers  and 
small  stock-raisers  must  combine  to  clear  off  all  their 
toughest  and  most  inferior  members  of  the  herd.  Large 
owners  will  never  sell  locally,  but  ship  every  head  they 
sell;  this  is  done  to  protect  their  brand,  for  then  no  one 
can  pretend  to  any  rightful  possession  of  a  cow  or  a  hide 
with  the  cattle-owner's  mark. 


PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES.  l8l 

After  leaving  Austin  there  was  again  a  dearth  of 
water.  We  travelled  somewhat  out  of  our  way  to  find 
it,  getting  what  information  we  could  along  the  road 
from  the  few  people  we  passed,  whose  answers  in  every 
case  were  given  with  the  object  of  concealing  the  truth 
and  of  misleading  us.  The  road  we  were  on  has  been 
for  years  the  main  stock-trail,  so  that  one  band  more 
or  less  could  hardly  matter;  yet  from  some  fancy  many 
men  would  try  to  turn  us  away  from  the  right  road.  I 
had  learnt  something  of  the  country  before  leaving  town, 
but  had  failed  to  catch  the  meaning  of  various  hints  and 
half  suggestions,  which  my  informant,  more  liberal  than 
most,  would  venture  to  throw  out.  He  had  been  an  old 
driver,  and  knew  the  tricks  of  the  trade. 

A  new  disagreeable  along  the  emigrant  road  in  this 
part  of  the  State  was  the  scarcity  of  feed.  By  the  con- 
tinual passage  of  animals — particularly  of  sheep — the 
tufts  of  grass  among  the  sage-bush  were  either  eaten 
down  or  trampled  out;  the  brush,  too,  was  dead.  It  did 
not  stand  more  than  two  feet  high,  but  there  was  not  a 
sign  of  leaf  or  the  slightest  pliancy;  the  branches  were 
nearly  as  stiff  as  cast-iron,  and  the  broken  ends  hard  and 
pointed.  The  only  way  for  sheep  to  get  along  without 
having  the  wool  torn  from  their  sides  was  to  stick  to  the 
road  and  the  trails  along  the  edges  which  were  partly 
clear;  but  here  there  was  no  feed,  and  the  only  way  to 
get  it  was  to  keep  the  nearest  sheep  at  least  a  quarter  of 
a  mile  to  one  side  of  the  road.  Here  they  could  eat, 
but,  as  explained  above,  could  not  travel,  having  to  work 
in  and  out  of  the  bushes.  A  great  deal  of  wool  is  torn 
off  by  herding  sheep  through  sage-bush;  but  when  you 
are  on  the  road  necessity  drives. 


ilfti 


PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES.  183 

Some  of  the  sheep  began  to  lose  their  wool  all  over 
their  bodies;  this  is  attributed  variously  to  eating  poison- 
leaves  and  to  fever.  These  sheep  became  perfectly  naked; 
a  ridge  of  coarse  hair  along  the  back,  or  a  patch  of  wool 
like  a  wig  on  top  of  the  head,  being  the  last  to  fall  off, 
gave  them  a  most  comical  appearance.  The  new  wool 
began  to  grow  at  once,  but  it  would  hardly  be  thick 
enough  to  protect  the  sheep  properly  through  the  winter. 
When  a  sheep  has  eaten  poison  his  belly  swells;  he  is 
unable  to  travel,  and  lies  down.  If  we  get  him  as  far  as 
camp,  as  we  sometimes  did  by  a  ride  on  the  wagon, 
without  any  marked  signs  of"  distress  his  head  would  be 
stretched  outwards  and  upwards;  next  morning  he  would 
be  dead,  still  looking  a  healthy  sheep,  as  the  swelling  of 
the  body  was  not  very  marked.  A  sort  of  blind  staggers 
was  very  common,  caused,  I  think,  by  the  heat;  you 
would  notice  a  sheep  fall  behind  the  herd,  his  feet 
scrambling  and  working  as  if  independent  of  his  will; 
he  would  stumble,  run  against  bushes,  trip,  fall  down. 
The  only  remedy  for  such  customers  was  to  catch  them 
and  bleed  them  by  cutting  a  vein  in  the  face  below  the 
eye,  which  almost  invariably  cured  them.  They  did  not 
lose  much  blood,  and,  after  walking  quietly  for  half  an 
hour,  took  up  their  usual  place  in  the  herd.  The  sheep 
were  also  liable  to  large  abscesses  on  any  part  of  the 
body;  these  were  cut  open,  and  healed  of  themselves. 

All  the  time,  from  after  first  striking  the  desert,  I  was 
depending  entirely  on  inquiries,  and  a  small  scale  map, 
for  finding  the  road.  The  man  on  whom  I  relied  for 
piloting  us  was  worse  than  useless  ;  he  had  completely 
forgotten  what  parts  of  the  road  he  had  travelled,  ex- 
cept a  few  small  details  which  he  jumbled  in  his  memory, 


1 84  PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES. 

and  whenever  he  ventured  on  a  decided  opinion  he  was 
marvellously  out.  It  was  rather  a  strain  having  to  go 
ahead  and  hunt  the  road,  keep  an  eye  on  the  driving, 
and  arrange  for  all  the  wants  of  men,  horses  and  sheep  ; 
for  the  men  would  not  do  anything  except  walk  at  the 
tail  of  the  herd  Not  one  would  go  ahead  to  examine  a 
fork  in  the  road,  nor  ascertain  the  best  place  to  cross  a 
boggy  stream  ;  if  there  was  a  check — good,  they  would 
stop  ;  if  there  were  two  roads,  it  was  not  their  business 
to  choose.  On  the  other  hand,  any  directions  were  liable 
to  be  received  resentfully.  It  was  the  bess's  business  to 
make  all  things  plain,  to  make  the  rough  places  smooth, 
to  provide  plenty  of  food,  and  give  them  plenty  of  time. 
How  they  would  have  liked  to  do  the  work  would  have 
been  somewhat  as  follows  :  A  not  too  early  start,  drive 
the  sheep  along  the  road  regardless  of  feed,  till  nooning 
time,  corral  them  and  leave  them  to  watch  themselves 
while  the  men  dine  and  sleep  ;  at  three  o'clock  drive  on 
those  easily  found  along  the  road  till  the  camping- 
ground  is  reached,  corral  early,  and  go  to  supper  ;  sheep 
guarded  by  sleeping  round  the  herd  ;  if  they  are  dis- 
turbed and  break  out,  pretend  not  to  hear  them  ;  a  very- 
little  exertion  on  their  part  to  be  made  up  for  by  work- 
ing the  dogs.  Unless  closely  looked  after,  the  herders 
would  have  starved  the  sheep  by  never  taking  them  off 
the  road,  or  giving  them  time  to  feed. 

Early  in  August  we  crossed  the  Eureka  Railway. 
Having  business  in  town,  I  walked  a  few  miles  to  the 
ordinary  halting-place  '  of  the  train,  Garden  Canyon 
Station,  I  think,  where  I  found  some  stacks  of  wood, 
and  nothing  more.  As  the  train  was  in  the  habit  of 
being  as  much  as  ten  hours  late,  the  chance  of  spending 


PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES.  185 

a  night  among  the  stacks  of  wood  was  only  tolerable 
with  the  certainty  of  a  good  fire.  The  weather  was 
overcast ;  heavy  showers  fell  at  intervals,  which  wet  my 
canvas  clothes  thoroughly.  Fortune  was  better  to  me 
than  I  could  be  certain  about ;  the  train  came,  and  I 
went  into  Eureka.  Here  I  bought  a  small  box  full  of 
provisions  and  some  barley,  but  afterwards  ascertained 
that  it  could  not  be  carried  with  me  in  the  train.  After 
going  backward  and  forward,  and  after  much  hin- 
drance, I  find  that  I  can  send  it  in  the  same  train  to  this 
empty  spot  in  the  prairie  by  a  parcel  company,  which  of 
course  I  was  obliged  to  do  ;  they  hold  the  monopoly  of 
carrying  by  passenger  train  from  the  railway  company. 
These  little  bothers  seem  queer  at  a  distance,  looked  at 
from  the  midst  of  more  multiplied  conveniences  ;  but 
away  in  the  desert  you  are  glad  to  find  a  railway,  or 
store,  or  anything,  and  wonder  not  so  much  at  the  price 
to  be  paid,  and  the  worries  you  encounter,  but  at  your 
extraordinary  luck  at  finding  something  to  pay  a  price 
for. 

After  crossing  the  Diamond  range,  we  turn  north- 
ward, and  follow  down  Huntingdon  Creek.  Before 
going  through  the  pass,  we  are  assured  of  water  within 
an  easy  distance  ;  wishing  to  spare  the  horses  an  un- 
necessary load  up-hill,  we  only  partly  filled  up  our 
water-kegs.  We  were  certainly  very  green  to  trust 
our  informants,  for  of  course  there  was  no  water,  nor 
had  there  been  any  for  a  month.  The  men,  being  on 
short  commons,  vented  the  usual  uncomplimentary  re- 
marks on  ranchers.  In  addition,  the  road  was  not  quite 
plain  ;  the  guide,  who  had  been  that  way,  looked,  and 
said  it  was  not  the  valley  we  wanted,  which  must  be 


1 86  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES,    i 

over  the  next  range  ;  but  I  had  found  out  my  friend  by 
this  time.  Next  morning,  riding  ahead  to  look  for 
water,  I  came  on  the  ruins  of  an  old  post-station,  and 
find  a  deep  well;  it  takes  120  feet  of  rope  to  reach 
water.  I  recognize  a  spot  on  the  map  ;  we  decide  to 
noon  here,  and  I  go  out  again  to  try  and  make  out  the 
road,  and,  what  was  equally  important,  to  find  water  for 
the  sheep. 

There  was  not  a  sign  of  habitation  :  the  flat  plains 
brown  or  gray,  and  covered  with  a  sage-bush  ;  the  hills, 
some  miles  off,  arid  and  burning  ;  not  even  up  there  can 
be  seen  a  green  patch  which  might  indicate  a  spring. 
The  soil  is  loose  and  gravelly ;  the  water-courses  have 
a  coarse,  sandy  bottom,  which  would  not  hold  water  for 
five  minutes  after  a  shower.  It  was  hopeless  to  expect 
to  find  what  we  wanted  on  the  plains.  The  most 
travelled  road  I  find  goes  east  over  the  further  range  ; 
but  I  judge  that  the  one  we  ought  to  follow  went  down 
the  valley.  Making  a  long  detour  to  take  in  as  much 
country  as  possible,  I  come  by  and  by  in  sight  of  a 
building  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  valley,  which  had 
previously  been  hidden  by  a  slight  spur.  I  ride  straight 
for  this  through  the  stiff  and  prickly  sage-bush,  and 
find  that  it  is  a  ranch,  only  quite  untenanted,  But, 
better  than  all,  there  is  a  fine  stream  of  water,  which  is 
led  down  from  the  mountain.  The  horse  has  a  good 
drink  ;  I  have  a  dip  ;  and  we  then  start  back  again  for 
camp,  my  doubts  and  anxieties  removed.  In  camp  I 
point  out  the  road  to  take  the  sheep,  and  explain  where 
they  will  find  water,  and,  after  a  lunch,  I  take  the  wagon 
round  another  way,  till  we  recover  the  road  we  had  to 
follow. 


PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES.  1 87 

Late  in  the  evening  the  sheep  are  seen  approaching 
the  stream.  Naturalists  say  that  the  sense  of  animals  is 
acute  in  finding  water  :  there  must  be  an  exception  for 
sheep.  The  way  they  are  treated  in  America  makes 
them  much  less  of  a  domesticated  animal  than  they  are 
in  countries  where  they  are  shut  all  day  in  fields  and 
closely  folded.  The  argument  is  generally  that  natural 
instincts  would  be  more  developed  in  the  former  case  ; 
but  I  have  known  sheep  to  be  exceedingly  parched  and 
not  be  aware  of  water  within  a  quarter  of  a  mile  of  a 
stream.  So  far  as  I  could  judge,  they  were  more  guided 
by  the  eye,  for  seeing  a  green  patch  of  salt  grass,  or  a 
clump  of  willows  from  a  good  distance  away,  they  would 
try  to  reach  it.  This  evening,  within  a  short  distance  of 
a  considerable  stream,  it  was  very  difficult  to  prevent 
the  band  from  rushing  into  a  mud-spring  not  fifty  feet 
across,  in  which  a  little  water  stood  in  holes.  But  when 
the  leaders  did  discover  the  water,-  and  communi- 
cated the  information  by  their  bleating,  it  was  a  sight  to 
see  the  whole  band  go  off  as  if  possessed  of  devils — tails 
up,  galloping  like  deer,  and  raising  as  much  dust  as  a 
regiment  of  cavalry,  baaing  their  best  till  they  ran  into 
the  water,  and  stopped  their  mouths  in  filling  them- 
selves. After  drinking,  the  sheep  always  want  to  scatter 
and  feed,  however  late  it  may  be.  There  was  plenty  for 
them,  so  we  gave  them  an  hour  and  then  corralled.  But 
the  devils  were  not  driven  out,  and  all  night  long  they 
made  dashes  for  the  scrub  to  try  and  go  off  on  foraging 
expeditions  of  their  own. 

So  far  as  I  know,  the  sheep  is  the  greediest  of  any 
domesticated  animal  ;  he  will  eat  from  earliest  dawn  till 
the  heat  of  the  sun  makes  him  drowsy,  when  he  will  lie 


188  PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES. 

down.  But  if  at  this  juncture  he  gets  a  drink  of  water, 
or  sees  a  change  of  food,  he  shakes  off  sleep  and  feeds 
for  an  extra  hour.  After  nooning  he  wakes  hungry,  and 
while  yet  half  asleep  wanders  about  picking,  always 
fancying  something  better  than  what  lies  in  his  reach. 
If  he  has  to  move  on  he  wants  to  stop  and  grab  mouth- 
fuls,  as  if  in  a  state  of  starvation,  keeping  a  furtive  look 
on  the  driver.  As  the  latter  approaches  the  sheep  runs 
on  a  few  paces  and  then  stops  and  snatches  bunches  of 
browze  or  tufts  of  grass — swallowing  them  in  haste  to 
snatch  again.  At  this  work  he  continues  till  his  belly  is 
swollen  out  like  a  barrel,  his  back  flat,  and  his  legs 
barely  equal  to  the  weight.  For  a  time  he  checks  ;  but 
should  the  herd  suddenly  cross  a  patch  of  some  new 
kind  of  food,  they  make  a  rush,  and  begin  devouring  as 
if  they  had  not  seen  food  that  day — snatching,  and  gob- 
bling, and  refusing  to  move  on.  Even  at  night,  when 
half  stupid  with  repletion  and  sleep,  they  still  try  to  feed, 
and  finish  up  on  bites  of  bitter  sage-bush,  rather  than 
lose  the  last  opportunity.  They  are  very  liable  to  over- 
eat themselves,  and  when  first  turned  into  wheat-stubble, 
or  get  among  the  acorns,  they  run  a  great  risk  of  killing 
themselves.  When  first  put  on  fresh  grass  or  the  young 
shoots  of  wild  onion  they  run  like  mad  things  ;  and  in- 
deed any  morning  they  will  rush  past  and  over  good 
feed,  in  a  wild  desire  to  share  in  or  forestall  the  leaders' 
chances. 

While  travelling  through  this  parched  and  waterless 
country,  our  own  condition,  as  may  be  guessed,  was 
somewhat  grimy.  Our  outer  clothing  is  made  of  canvas, 
which  can  be  bought  in  every  store.  The  overalls  of  the 
herders  are  generally  blue,  worn  either  without  under- 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  189 

garments,  or  over  a  pair  of  cloth  trousers  and  red  flannel 
drawers,  according  to  the  state  of  the  weather.  One  or 
two  flannel  shirts,  usually  dark  blue,  with  a  turn-down 
collar,  and  some  ornament,  either  lacing  or  buttons,  in 
front ;  a  brown  canvas  coat  lined  with  flannel  ;  a  felt 
hat  with  a  good  wide  brim  ;  strong  highlows,  and  a 
stick.  There  is  hardly  ever  any  difference  in  the  men's 
working  dress  from  the  above ;  these  are  the  kind  uni- 
versally provided  for  the  Western  market,  and  the 
woollen  goods  are  worse  than  inferior.  The  overalls 
have  to  be  renewed  oftenest.  On  leaving  every  town 
some  of  the  boys  would  appear  in  a  new  blue  pair 
of  trousers  ;  a  large  light-colored  patch,  sewn  into  the 
waistband  behind,  represents  a  galloping  horse  as  a 
trade-mark,  and  informs  all  concerned  that  the  wearer 
is  clothed  in  "  Wolf  &  Neuman's  Boss  of  the  Road,  with 
riveted  buttons  and  patent  continuous  fly."  Then  come 
two  figures — say  36  and  34 — which  refer  to  the  size 
of  waist  and  length  of  leg.  If  short  and  stout,  you 
buy  a  large  man's  size,  and  turn  up  the  bottom  of  the 
leg.  If,  on  the  contrary,  32  would  suit  you  for  wais-t, 
you  must,  not  seldom  in  a  country-store,  take  40,  so  as 
to  secure  the  other  dimension.  An  odd  size,  however, 
leads  to  tailoring  in  camp,  which  is  an  unprofitable  em- 
ployment ;  most  men,  therefore,  start  with  at  least  one 
extra  pair  of  overalls  to  fit.  The  patch  is  left  either 
from  idleness  or  as  a  memorandum  of  one's  measure- 
ments. 

For  the  rough  and  dusty  work  of  driving,  whether  on 
horseback  or  on  foot,  these  canvas  suits  are  the  most 
efficient  ;  they  turn  wind  and  dirt,  and  can  be  washed. 
Where  you  have  to  follow  stock  in  a  cloud  of  dust,  and 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 


have  the  ground  as  your  only  seat,  woollen  outer  gar- 
ments would  be  objectionable.  In  cold  weather,  there- 
fore, you  put  the  canvas  overalls  and  coat  over  the  wool- 
len ordinary  clothes  ;  they  make  a  great  difference,  and 
help  immensely  in  keeping  you  warm.  In  July  and 
August,  of  course,  there  was  no  cold  to  contend  with  by 
day  even  at  high  altitudes.  Whenever  sufficient  water 
could  be  found,  and  a  little  leisure  secured,  it  was  a  great 
achievement  to  have  a  bath.  Dust  is  so  penetrating,  that 
the  least  said  about  one's  condition  is  best  said.  It  was 
a  great  consolation  that  it  was  clean  dirt,  for  after  hav- 
ing washed  thoroughly,  a  quarter  of  an  hour  at  the  tail 
of  the  herd  would  blacken  you  as  before.  In  truth  the 
occupation  is  so  laborious,  the  hours  so  long,  and  the 
attention  must  be  so  unremitting,  that  a  bath  is  often  out 
of  the  question,  even  when  the  quantity  of  water  is  to  be 
found,  for  those  who  have  to  do  the  work.  The  middle 
of  the  day  is  the  only  time  available,  as  the  drives  are 
arranged  for  the  stock  to  water  at  that  time.  The  wagon 
generally  gets  ahead  in  order  to  fill  up  kegs  before  the 
stock  come  in  and  trample  the  stream  into  mud,  which 
takes  but  a  few  minutes  after  they  arrive;  the  men  come 
in  at  the  tail:  to  find  clean  water  they  must  go  off  half  a 
mile.  To  bathe  in  the  evening  long  after  sunset,  or  in  the 
early  morning  when  you  should  have  finished  breakfast 
by  sunrise,  is  out  of  the  question:  first,  you  are  too  tired; 
secondly,  it  is  too  cold  even  in  summer  among  the  hills. 
and  —  twentiethly,  you  are  very  seldom  camped  on  water, 
If  by  luck  you  find  yourself  near  a  deep  slowly-flowing 
stream,  in  which  the  water  is  warmed  a  little  by  the  sun, 
it  is  a  festive  day.  There  is  generally  feed  on  the  banks; 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  IQI 

the  sheep,  which  prefer  slightly  warm  water  to  a  bright 
cold  rivulet,  are  content  to  stop  round;  you  then  can  go 
in  for  real  luxury,  bathe,  change  and  wash  the  clothes 
you  take  off.  In  the  evening  you  are  again  as  before,  the 
bath  but  a  memory. 

The  natural  result  of  these  circumstances  is  that  the 
boys  seldom  look  to  ablution  beyond  washing  their  faces 
and  hands.  They  are  careful  in  this.  Barring  dust,  it  is 
a  clean  country,  and  there  is  plenty  of  fresh  air.  Dirty 
men  abound,  and  at  least  one  is  to  be  found  in  every 
outfit;  but  his  habits  are  very  freely  criticised,  and  shar- 
ing of  bedding  or  clothes  is  carefully  avoided;  it  is  fate 
that  he  should  be  there;  you  must  put  up  with  him,  at 
least  for  a  time. 

The  bedding  consists  only  of  blankets  or  quilted 
counterpanes;  your  pillow  is  a  bag  stuffed  with  your 
spare  clothing.  If  possible,  the  whole  should  be  con- 
tained in  a  sheet  of  extra  stout  canvas,  sufficiently  long- 
to  be  spread  underneath  you,  and  when  brought  over  to 
cover  you  fully;  the  width  must  allow  of  a  wide  margin 
being  tucked  under  the  sides;  about  fifteen  feet  by  seven 
answers  well.  At  night  you  spread  your  bed  on  the 
ground,  and  if  the  sides  are  properly  tucked  in,  should  it 
come  on  to  rain,  you  draw  the  upper  fly  over  your  head 
and  lie  snug;  the  canvas  is  fairly  waterproof.  In  the 
morning  you  turn  the  edges  inward  on  top,  roll  up  the 
bed,  strap  or  tie  it  tightly.  The  canvas  keeps  the  bed- 
ding clean  and  dry,  protecting  it  against  dust  and  objec- 
tionable emigrants,  who  find  themselves  crowded  in  other 
blankets.  Usually  the  boys  sleep  in  pairs,  which  increases 
their  resources  and  saves  weight;  the  bedding  is  the 


IQ2  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

bulkiest  part  of  the  load  in  the  wagon.  Your  night  toilet 
consists  in  taking  off  your  coat  and  boots;  the  coat  you 
may  imagine  a  pillow,  your  boots  must  be  tucked  away 
safely  to  keep  them  dry,  and  beyond  the  reach  of  cayotes, 
who  will  steal  into  camp  at  night  and  carry  off  anything 
made  of  leather;  without  your  boots  you  would  be  in  a 
very  poor  fix  on  the  prairies. 

As  in  all  elevated  countries,  the  difference  of  tempera- 
ture during  the  day  in  the  sun  from  that  at  night  is  very 
great.  Although  you  may  work  in  a  single  flannel  shirt, 
it  is  proper  to  have  plenty  of  blankets  for  your  bed.  It 
is  the  cook's  duty,  after  fetching  camp  in  the  evening, 
having  unhitched  the  team,  to  tumble  all  the  beds  out  of 
the  wagon  on  to  the  ground.  Each  boy  at  niglit  carries 
his  bed  to  a  spot  he  likes  and  there  unrolls  it;  he  is  lim- 
ited to  some  definite  direction,  from  which  he  is  supposed 
to  assist  in  guarding  the  sheep.  It  is  not  always  a  search 
which  ends  successfully.  When  you  start  after  supper  in 
the  dark,  carrying  a  heavy  load  of  bedding  with  the  pur- 
pose of  making  your  bed,  the  ground  may  be  sloping, 
and  thickly  covered  with  sage-bush;  there  are  hollows, 
and  sidling  places,  and  stones,  but  there  is  no  level  spot 
even  six  feet  by  three.  You  are  a  little  out  of  breath 
with  the  weight  on  your  shoulders;  it  leans  against  your 
head,  which  you  hold  sideways;  you  cannot  see  clearly, 
and  stumble  up  against  bushes  or  trip  over  stumps  in 
the  dark;  you  drop  your  bed  carelessly  with  a  flop,  and 
— up  jump  the  sheep.  Having  jumped  up  they  begin  to 
stray  from  their  bed-ground  in  search  of  feed.  Your  first 
business  must  now  be  to  drive  them  back  and  watch  them 
till  they  lie  down  and  are  still  again;  you  may  then  re- 


PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES.  193 

turn  to  your  bed,  and  after  spreading  it  out  as  much  as 
can  be  done  in  a  narrow  space  between  the  bushes,  you 
pull  off  your  boots  and  creep  inside  the  blankets.  But 
where  is  comfort  ? — a  root-stump  is  under  the  very  mid- 
dle of  your  bed,  invisible  to  your  eyes  in  the  dust,  but 
prominent  to  your  present  feelings.  It  is,  however,  a 
very  aggressive  stump  that  makes  you  shift  your  quar- 
ters. You  are  far  too  tired  to  mind  a  little  bullying;  if 
by  any  means  of  bending  yourself  into  a  C  or  S  curve 
you  can  avoid  the  knotty  point,  it  is  good  enough,  you 
and  the  stump  need  not  fall  out;  anyhow  you  are  not 
going  to  move,  and  will,  you  hope,  sleep  soundly. 

Granted  that  your  expectations  are  accomplished; 
suppose  the  sheep  have  fed  and  drunk  well  during  the 
day,  and  therefore  are  not  inclined  to  move  that 
night;  say  that  there  is  no  wind-storm  to  disturb  you, 
and  the  plaintive  cayote  is  dumb,  the  hours  pass  too 
quickly;  you  wake  in  the  dull-gray  light  of  break  of 
day,  a  little  flame  is  flickering  in  camp,  the  cook's  voice 
shouts  "Roll  out;"  you  jump  up,  but  before  you  have 
time  to  dress  and  pack  your  bed  it  is  "  Breakfast !" 
Your  carry  your  bedding  to  the  wagon  and  dump  it 
down  somewhere  handy.  Having  washed  your  face  and 
hands,  you  take  a  place  near  the  fire;  somebody  throws 
on  a  bush  to  make  a  blaze,  and  you  eat  a  hearty  meal  of 
fried  meat,  bread,  and  coffee.  Long  before  you  are 
ready  the  sheep  are  on  the  move,  and  break  up  their 
camp;  if  they  travel  in  the  right  direction  you  can  let 
them  go,  but  if  wandering,  one  man  must  start  at  once 
and  take  charge;  the  remainder  of  the  boys  finish  break- 
fast, fill  their  canteens  with  water,  grasp  their  sticks, 


194  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

and  follow  the  herd.  The  cook  is  left  in  solitary  pos- 
session; he  has  to  wash  up,  reload  the  wagop,  catch, 
feed,  and  water  the  team,  and  then  follow  the  trail  of 
the  sheep,  and  be  up  again  in  time  to  cook  dinner. 

Every  night  does  not  pass  comfortably.  After  a  rough 
day's  work,  or  at  the  end  of  a  longer  journey  than  usual, 
the  sheep,  not  having  crossed  good  pasturage,  or  hav- 
ing been  driven  too  quickly  for  leisure  to  feed  so  much 
as  they  want,  are  restless  and  hungry.  When  first  cor- 
ralled they  may  be  feeling  a  little  tired,  and  will  lie  still 
a  couple  of  hours,  just  enough  to  lull  you  into  an  idea  of 
security.  You  are  no  sooner  in  bed  than  they  begin  to 
break  out  and  wander  away  in  search  of  food.  A  dozen 
well-known  brutes  are  the  leaders;  drive  them  in  at  one 
point,  they  will  thread  their  way  through  those  lying 
down  to  another  point  of  the  bed-ground,  and  try  the 
old  manoeuvre.  It  is  useless  to  let  them  have  their  way, 
thinking  they  will  satisfy  themselves  hanging  round  the 
herd  and  then  return.  They  have  not  gone  out  five 
minutes  when  a  hundred  others  are  up.  If  feeding  is  to 
be  allowed,  they  'also  want  a  share.  To  avoid  close 
quarters  each  lot  creeps  out  a  little  further;  nibble  and 
move,  and  nibble  again:  this  is  only  the  beginning. 
You  must  check  it,  and,  deferring  sleep,  commence  to 
walk  round  and  round.  At  every  point  they  leave  the 
herd  you  must  drive  them  back.  If  no  one  notices  them 
at  the  first  it  does  not  take  ten  minutes  for  the  whole 
flock  to  be  moving.  A  suspicion  comes  to  you  in  your 
sleep;  you  wake  and  hear  the  peculiar  creeping  sound 
from  thousands  of  tiny  hoofs;  the  bells  are  making  a 
noise — you  need  hardly  look  at  the  bed-ground — the 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  195 

fact  is  already  too  certain.  You  must  jump  out  of  bed 
sharp,  pull  on  your  boots,  seize  your  coat,  and  go  after 
them  at  once. 

When  the  sheep  find  themselves  discovered  they  stop, 
and  if  you  shout  at  them  they  turn  and  come  back;  even 
those  a  good  distance  off  will  hesitate  when  those  behind 
are  leaving  them.  They  stop,  look,  and  soon  begin  to 
run  inwards;  those  furthest  off  are  even  a  little  scared, 
and  come  galloping  in,  charging  the  bushes,  and  tearing 
off  wool.  You  must  go  out  to  the  utmost  point  they 
reached  to  be  certain  none  are  left;  walk  all  round  in  a 
big  circle,  and  then  come  back  and  bunch  up  the  herd, 
watching  them  till  they  lie  down.  This  game  you  may 
have  to  repeat  three  and  four  times  in  a  night.  As  the 
hours  advance  and  the  temperature  falls  you  stir  less 
readily,  and  hope  by  shouting  to  turn  the  wanderers. 
This  will  not  pay  more  than  once  or  twice;  you  find  you 
must  get  up  or  lose  the  sheep.  Many  a  time  it  seemed 
better  to  lose  the  sheep.  In  the  morning  it  is  as  well  to 
make  a  wide  sweep,  and  assure  yourself  by  the  tracks 
that  none  got  away.  You  can  also  count  the  bells,  and, 
if  possible,  the  black  sheep.  On  moonlight  nights  the 
sheep  are  bolder,  and  are  more  likely  to  stray  than  on 
dark  nights.  It  is  after  all  least  trouble  to  watch  them 
regularly,  though  many  experienced  drivers  have  told 
me  that  they  had  always  been  satisfied  with  the  men 
lying  round  the  band.  Yearlings  are  the  most  difficult 
class  of  sheep  to  deal  with  on  the  drive,  and  Merinos  are 
said  to  be  particularly  "  mean."  That  was  certainly  an 
opinion  with  which  I  came  to  agree. 

The  trouble  varies  inversely  with  the  quantity  of  food. 


196  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

With  plenty  to  eat,  and  not  too  far  to  travel,  the  sheep 
will  lie  so  still  that  at  sunrise  they  are  still  chewing  the 
cud,  and  have  almost  to  be  kicked  off  their  bed-ground. 
When  hungry  let  the  sheep  have  a  quarter  of  an  hour's 
start,  they  are  out  of  sight.  Going  with  their  own  in- 
clination, they  cover  a  great  distance  in  a  few  hours  of 
night ;  but  along  the  road  they  take  some  time  to  under- 
stand the  drill;  and  you  must  not  venture  to  require 
more  than  an  average  of  nine  miles.  They  do  come  to 
understand  that  they  have  to  follow  the  direction  of  a 
road,  and  it  is  interesting  to  see  them  sometimes,  when 
brought  back  from  feeding  to  the  main  trail:  the  leaders 
check,  look  along  the  road,  look  back,  and,  finally  mak- 
ing up  their  mind,  start  off  in  the  proper  direction. 

The  cayotes  sometimes  worried  us.  If  one  came  near 
the  band  the  whole  of  the  sheep  on  that  side  would  start 
to  their  feet;  this  takes  but  a  second.  They  are  wonder- 
fully quick  and  unanimous  in  doing  anything  disagree- 
able. That  part  of  the  bed-ground  is  deserted;  the  dis- 
turbed sheep  pass  round  the  remainder  of  the  herd  to 
the  further  side;  another  batch  is  then  perhaps  fright- 
ened; they  move  away.  It  does  not  take  long  for  the 
whole  herd  to  be  on  foot.  The  good  herder  will  now 
do  his  duty,  but  the  hireling  sleepeth.  He  has  got  up 
once  in  the  early  part  of  the  night;  it  is  colder  now.  If 
he  has  a  dog  he  will  send  him  to  round-up  the  band, 
but  the  dog  soon  tires  of  being  constantly  sent  out. 
When  his  master  does  not  accompany  him  the  dog  shirks 
and  sneaks  back  to  the  bed  without  having  driven  in  the 
sheep.  If  he  is  threatened  or  punished  he  simply  runs 
away  and  lies  down  near  the  wagon  or  in  the  bush  till 


PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES. 


the  morning.  As  a  work  of  supererogation  the  dogs 
used  to  take  a  great  delight  in  chasing  the  cayote.  If 
one  howled  near  camp  all  the  dogs  would  start  in  pur- 
suit; they  ran  and  barked  till  they  tired,  and  then  re- 
turned. They  never  tackled  the  cayote  if  they  caught 
him.  This  play  was  disturbing  both  to  ourselves  and 
to  the  herd.  No  good  came  of  it,  so  I  had  the  dogs 
tied.  The  cayotes  never  did  attack  the  sheep  at  night. 
One  or  two  were  killed  by  them  on  the  road;  it  was 
done  by  daylight. 

Well-bred  and  well-broken  dogs  fetch  a  good  price,  if 
you  can  hold  them  till  you  find  a  purchaser  who  is  really 
in  want  of  such  an  animal.  The  day-dream  of  a  herder 
is  to  get  a  dog  that  will  watch  the  sheep  at  night;  for 
even  to  wake  and  halloa  a  few  times  makes  a  bad  night, 
and  no  one  need  envy  the  man  whose  fate  compels  him 
to  walk  half-chilled  round  and  round  a  lot  of  fractious, 
pig-headed  sheep;  to  find  the  same  brutes  leading  off 
again  and  again,'  bunches  watching  him,  standing  still 
as  statues  in  his  presence,  but  stealing  out  from  the 
corner  on  which  he  has  just  turned  his  back.  If  he  sits 
down  on  a  stone  for  ten  minutes  the  whole  of  the  work 
seems  to  have  to  be  done  over  again.  He  comes  on  a 
band  that  he  has  headed  back  already  half-a-dozen 
times.  They  wait  till  the  last  minute,  and  trot  into  the 
herd  just  a  yard  in  front  of  him  ;  so  soon  as  he  is  past 
they  walk  out.  You  must  take  it  slowly  —  impatience 
would  do  more  harm  than  good;  for  -the  sheep  you 
drove  in  with  a  rush  would  startle  ten  times  their  num- 
ber among  those  which  perhaps  had  been  lying  down; 
they  then  pack  and  squeeze  on  the  centre  —  heads  in- 


198  PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES. 

ward,  tails  outward.  The  chief  culprits  have  know- 
ingly secured  forward  places  quite  of  reach.  The  lot 
cannot  remain  so,  and  to  lie  down  must  open  out.  You 
have  to  leave  them. 

Quietness,  patience,  and  persistency — these  are  the 
cardinal  qualities;  keep  on  turning  them  back  until  they 
are  all  lying  down;  you  may  then  go  to  bed.  But  in  the 
first  instance  choose  your  bed-ground;  have  room 
enough  for  the  herd  to  lie  down  without  crowding; 
they  will  lie  all  the  quieter  for  a  little  elbow-room.  Any 
place  does  not  suit  a  sheep's  idea  of  comfort.  If  a  big 
wether  sees  a  smaller  sheep  in  a  spot  he  fancies,  he  will 
touch  him  with  his  fore-foot  as  a  signal  to  clear  out;  if 
the  sheep  will  not  take  the  hint  the  big  one  will  butt 
him  out.  On  several  occasions  when  the  sheep  had 
been  particularly  well-fed,  and  were  proportionately 
content,  they  spread  out  their  ranks  till  in  the  morning 
they  were  seen  lying  all  round  the  men's  beds,  and  in 
the  closest  proximity  thereto;  but  at  these  times  they 
did  not  care  to  feed  at  night.  Properly  handled  sheep 
like  nothing  better  than  to  carry  out  their  role,  which  is 
to  grow  wool  and  to  grow  fat;  it  is  for  the  men  to  help 
them  to  do  so. 

Good  dogs  are  of  enormous  assistance  on  a  drive. 
They  are  scarce  in  California  in  the  early  summer,  when 
every  band  going  to  the  hills  wants  two  or  three  dogs. 
Some  owners  pretend  they  would  rather  be  without 
dogs.  It  is  possible  that  in  driving  fat  sheep  in  the 
plains  the  men  would  work  the  herd  more  quietly  than 
the  average  dog;  but  they  are  a  necessity  where  the 
ground  is  rough  and  covered  with  bush,  and  if  the 


PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES.  IQ9 

sheep,  attracted  by  some  new  food  they  are  fond  of,  are 
liable  to  scatter,  dogs  get  them  in  more  quickly  than  any 
man  can  o,  and  by  turning  those  heading  in  a  wrong 
direction  at  once  save  time  and  save  the  sheep  an  un- 
necessary journey.  Sheep,  too,  "will  mind  a  single  dog, 
when  they  would  not  be  controlled  by  several  men. 
The  watch  the  latter,  and  dodge  them  so  soon  as  their 
attention  is  engaged  elsewhere.  A  dog  who  has  nipped 
them  once  or  twice  instils  a  wholesome  fear,  and  for 
him  they  will  turn  at  once.  In  bad  hands  a  dog  is  liable 
to  be  rough.  A  lazy  man  will  spoil  his  dog  by  over- 
working him;  the  dog  learns  bad  tricks,  and  saves  him- 
self by  cutting  across  little  bunches  instead  of  going 
outside  all. 

The  relations  between  the  sheep  and  the  dogs  are 
amusingly  various.  One  of  the  two  I  bought  was  com- 
pletely master  of  the  situation.  He  had  only  to  show 
himself  when  order  was  restored;  the  other  was  an  older 
dog,  of  a  reddish-brown  color,  "a  yaller  dogue,"  as  the 
Americans  say.  Originally  broken  in  as  a  sheep-dog,  he 
had  in  later  years  been  used  in  hunting  bears,  and  for 
various  farm  purposes;  he  was  strangely  gentle  notwith- 
standing; the  sheep  all  found  out  his  disposition,  and 
were  quite  friendly,  allowing  him  to  walk  close  alongside 
when  lying  down,  with  other  liberties.  This  mutual 
good-will  was  a  disadvantage  ;  as  a  straggling  sheep, 
being  admonished  from  behind,  would  turn  and  face 
the  yellow  dog,  when  a  comic  fight  would  ensue  about 
nothing  at  all,  and  in  which  neither  attempted  to  hurt 
the  other.  At  other  times  we  have  all  seen  him  go  up 
to  a  sheep,  who  would  look  at  him  inquiringly  and  not 


2OO  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

move;  the  dog  would  lick  the  sheep's  mouth.  Both 
dogs  had  little  tricks,  in  which  they  had  to  be  checked, 
as  furthering  their  own  ends  without  regard  to  our  in- 
tentions; in  fact,  every  evening  they  were  so  anxious  to 
conclude  the  day's  work,  that,  if  allowed,  they  would 
have  driven  the  sheep  alone  into  camp  at  a  great  pace. 
At  night  they  hated  to  work  as  much  as  any  of  us,  and 
would  hide  carefully  if  called  upon  too  often  to  assist. 

An  amusement  of  theirs,  of  which  they  had  to  be  bro- 
ken, was  hunting  jack-rabbits;  these,  latterly,  were  very 
plentiful  near  water.  The  long  line  of  sheep  traversing 
the  country  would  often  put  up  quite  a  number  of  these 
rabbits,  who  could  not  always  readily  get  out  of  the  way; 
they  would  run  ahead  and  sit  up,  and  look  and  run 
again;  some,  finding  themselves  caught  in  the  midst  of 
the  flock,  lost  their  heads,  and  rushed  wildly  about 
among  the  sheep,  giving  the  herders  a  chance  of  knock- 
ing one  over  with  a  well-directed  stick.  Chipmunks 
might  also  occasionally  divert  the  attention  of  the  dogs. 
They  seem  to  resemble  exactly  the  small  striped  squirrel 
in  India  ;  the  latter  live  in  trees,  the  former  on  the 
ground.  Ground-squirrels  I  saw  in  Washington  Terri- 
tory; they  are  excessively  destructive  to  the  crops  of  the 
first  settlers,  but  as  the  woods  are  cleared  they  are  said 
to  go  back.  Prairie-dogs  were  not  common  in  Nevada. 
There  were  plenty  on  the  prairies  we  crossed  in  Wyom- 
ing and  Montana.  Their  bark  is  more  like  a  chirrup;  they 
are  pretty,  fat  little  beasts,  seen  sitting  upon  the  mounds 
which  surround  the  mouths  of  their  burrows;  they  eat 
the  grass  very  close  round  their  village,  but  are  other- 
wise harmless.  On  the  other  hand,  as  they  are  of  no  use 
to  us  as  food,  we  naturally  slight  them. 


PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES.  2OI 

A  very  early  remark  an  Anglo-Indian  makes  in  the 
West  of  America,  is  the  resemblance  of  nature  and  of 
animal  life  to  the  types  he  knows  in  India,  and  the  dis- 
similarity to  European  specimens.  The  Rocky  Moun- 
tains remind  one  strongly  of  the  Himalayas;  a  resem- 
blance which  might  lead  one  to  suppose  that  gold  may 
yet  be  found  in  the  latter  mountains,  if  searched  for  by 
experienced  prospectors:  geologists  are  of  no  use  at  this 
trade;  while  the  ordinary  uninstructed  individual  would 
build  his  hut  against  a  quartz  ledge,  and  not  suspect  its 
existence.  People  who  have  explored  the  Himalayas 
looked  at  the  scenery,  or  were  searching  for  game. 
Judging  from  American  experience,  mines  are  found  in 
places  as  wild  and  difficult  of  access  as  any  happy  hunt- 
ing-grounds of  ibex  and  markhor.  As  for  the  animals, 
I  will  only  mention  a  few:  the  cayote,  in  appearance  and 
language,  is  a  jackal;  the  American  antelope,  in  form 
and  habits,  resembles  the  black  buck;  the  elk  corres- 
ponds with  the  bara  singha;  the  buffalo  with  the  Central 
India  bison.  As  to  the  surface  of  the  country,  the  wide 
plains  and  lofty  plateaus  have  nothing  to  compare  with 
near  us,  but  can  readily  be  matched  in  Asia.  The  light 
soil,  fertile  only  under  irrigation,  and  when  cut  up  by 
water  developing  perpendicular-sided  ravines,  which  cut 
back  and  back,  plains  covered  with  saline  efflorescence — 
these  can  all  be  seen  in  Colorado,  just  the  same  as  in 
India.  There  is,  however,  one  great  difference — the  sun. 
America  develops  our  race,  India  kills  it. 

In  going  down  Huntington  Creek  we  had  left  the 
main  travelled  road,  and  were  making  our  way  along 
the  foot  of  a  range  in  the  direction  of  Elcho.  There  are 
some  charming  valleys  embosomed  in  the  mountains, 


2O2  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

with  plenty  of  water  for  irrigation,  and  many  farms. 
Only  one  herd  had  travelled  this  road  during  the  season; 
feed  and  water  were  in  good  quantity,  but  wire  fences 
too  common.  The  main  valley  itself  was  as  brown  and 
arid  as  the  country  generally  we  had  come  through.  I 
lost  a  horse  by  his  own  clumsiness;  he  was  accustomed 
to  be  hobbled  and  turned  loose  to  feed;  in  crossing  a 
small  stream  he  must  have  fallen  backward,  and  was 
drowned  in  about  a  foot  of  water.  I  had  some  difficulty 
in  replacing  him;  the  opportunity  of  a  forced  purchase 
raised  prices  against  me.  I  was  offered  any  old  screw, 
and  asked  to  pay  out  of  all  proportion  to  his  age  and 
infirmities. 

But  I  would  not  offer  the  horse-dealer  as  the  type  of 
the  business-man  any  more  in  the  West  than  all  over 
the  earth.  Tell  him  what  you  want,  and  see  what  he 
brings  you.  His  object  is  not  to  suit  his  customers,  but 
to  get  rid  of  some  objectionable  quadruped  in  his  own 
stables.  Tell  him  you  would  like  a  horse  fifteen  hands, 
bay  or  brown,  not  more  than  eight  years  old,  and  in 
America  you  would  add  his  weight — say  1200  pounds. 
He  has  quite  a  number  to  suit  you;  if  you  will  call  again 
to-morrow  morning  he  will  have  them  driven  into  the 
corral.  Judge  of  your  surprise! — you  see  some  half- 
dozen  miserable-looking  beasts;  two  are  mere  ponies; 
one  lame,  the  best  one  belongs  to  a  pair;  the  last,  which 
he  strongly  insists  is  just  the  horse  to  suit  you,  is  gray, 
scraggy,  over  sixteen  hands,  out  of  condition,  and  never 
likely  to  see  eighteen  years  again.  His  friends  helping, 
he  would  wish  to  worry  you  into  taking  this  venerable 
relict  off  his  hands. 

By  the  end  of  the  month  we  had  crossed  the  Central 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  203 

Pacific  Railway,  and  rejoined  the  main  trail.  The  coun- 
try was  still  much  the  same;  feed  scarce  along  the  trail, 
and  watering-places  a  good  distance  apart ;  but  the 
country  was  higher  and  more  mountainous,  and  at  times 
picturesque.  The  road  lay  just  across  the  corner  of 
Idaho  and  Utah,  and  passes  a  spot  marked  on  most  maps 
as  City  of  Rocks.  Many  persons  have  fancied  that  there 
is  a  town  here,  but  the  name  has  been  given  on  account 
of  some  fantastic  masses  of  rock  which  stand  round  a 
valley;  they  are  not  very  remarkable,  and  are  not  to  be 
compared  with  the  stones  near  Manitou,  Colorado,  called 
the  Garden  of  the  Gods.  The  weather  in  September  was 
growing  very  chill,  and  over  the  high  ground  we  had 
often  frost.  We  had  to  be  constantly  on  the  watch  in 
case  we  should  find  ourselves  camped  in  a  place  without 
firewood;  this  was  troublesome,  as  a  good  fire  was  an 
imperative  necessity  while  eating  supper,  both  for  warmth 
and  light.  We  often  carried  wood  along  in  the  wagon, 
but  that  hardly  sufficed  for  camp-fires,  which  to  be  of 
any  account  must  be  fed  with  prodigality. 

For  the  only  time  on  the  journey  we  were  one  night 
disturbed  by  a  bear,  who  was  accustomed  to  travel  up 
the  road  to  a  small  spring  of  water.  The  sheep,  though 
not  attacked,  were  greatly  terrified,  and  went  off  bodily 
up  the  side  of  a  hill;  we  brought  them  back,  and  with  a 
little  watching  they  settled  down  quietly  for  the  rest  of 
the  night.  Bears  in  some  places  are  very  bold,  and  will 
climb  over  the  corral  fence  and  kill  several  sheep.  But 
I  will  speak  of  them  as  I  found  them;  they  never  did  us 
harm.  I  tried,  in  an  idle  fashion,  to  shoot  the  one  men- 
tioned above.  The  injury  was  not  completed;  my  inten- 
tions were  evil;  the  bears,  on  the  contrary,  behaved  well 


2O4  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

to  us.  The  most  zealous  sportsman  would  hardly  care 
to  roam  in  the  dark  with  a  cold  breeze  blowing  up  a 
canyon  on  the  off-chance  of  a  shot. 

The  only  possibility  of  keeping  warm  at  night  was,  be- 
fore getting  into  bed,  to  put  on  an  overcoat,  and  turn  in 
all  standing;  minus  boots  most  people  would  do  it;  but 
a  good  pair  of  loose  boots  are  no  detriment  in  bed,  par- 
ticularly if  there  are  likely  to  be  calls.  They  don't  hurt 
the  bed,  and  keeping  them  on  saves  time. 

As  we  get  into  Idaho  there  is  a  marked  improvement 
in  the  country.  Grass  and  water  are  more  plentiful. 
There  are  cottonwood  and  birch  trees  not  only  along  the 
streams,  but  in  fringes  on  the  hillside;  and  wherever  a 
hollow  has  retained  the  snow  after  its  general  disappear- 
ance from  the  ridges  of  the  hills  and  from  open  spots,  the 
later  moisture  has  encouraged  the  growth  of  everything 
green.  But  the  autumn  is  decidedly  fading  into  early 
winter.  The  higher  ranges  have  once  or  twice  been 
capped  with  snow;  the  leaves  are  changing  from  green 
into  more  lively  colors;  the  sun  in  the  middle  of  the 
day  even  is  occasionally  feeble,  having  probably  over- 
worked itself  in  scorching  us  through  the  summer.  It 
was  high  time  to  consider  where  the  sheep  should  be 
wintered.  The  choice  lay  between  taking  them  south  to 
the  country  which  borders  the  Salt  Lake,  or  to  push  on 
either  to  Green  River,  or  to  the  Laramie  Plains.  The 
Green  River  country  was,  however,  said  to  have  been 
overstocked  for  many  years,  and,  although  ranges  may 
still  be  found,  good  ones  are  scarce,  and  without  plenty 
of  feed  a  band  of  sheep,  more  particularly  one  which 
has  travelled  up  from  a  warmer  climate,  would  have  a 
poor  chance  in  the  extreme  cold  of  these  parts. 


PRAIRIE  EXPERIENCES.  2O5 

The  Laramie  Plains  are  a  portion  of  the  highest  table- 
land between  the  oceans;  although  subject  to  as  bitter 
cold  as  anywhere  in  the  northwest  of  the  States,  its  ex- 
posed position,  liable  to  be  swept  by  strong  winds, 
enables  stock  to  live,  for  the  reason  that,  the  snow  being 
blown  off,  the  herbage  is  laid  bare.  This  is  the  case  in 
ordinary  winters;  animals  which  start  healthy  and  in 
good  condition  pull  through  on  these  plains  fairly  well; 
but  in  every  season  there  are  severe  snow-storms  and 
piercing  winds,  during  which  it  is  impossible  to  take  out 
sheep,  and  when  cattle  and  horses  cannot  do  better  for 
themselves  than  turn  tail  to  the  blast  and  drift  slowly 
before  the  storm.  The  chinook,  which  is  a  warm  wind, 
blows  at  times  and  melts  the  snow;  but  the  greatest 
danger  to  all  stock  is  when  such  a  partial  thaw  is  followed, 
by  sharp  frost.  The  surface  of  the  snow  is  then  ice-bound, 
and  it  is  impossible  for  any  animal  to  care  for  itself.  To 
meet  these  cases  a.sufficient  quantity  of  hay  must  be  pro- 
vided for  the  sheep;  if  not,  the  chance  may  be  that  the 
whole  herd  are  starved  and  frozen  to  death.  Even  with 
hay  in  hand  it  is  not  always  a  good  plan  to  feed  it  to  the 
herd,  for  they  will  not  in  future  take  the  trouble  to  hunt 
for  themselves,  but  idle  all  the  day  and  wait  for  the  hay 
in  the  evening,  a  process  exasperating  to  the  easiest- 
tempered  herder,  but  all  in  a  piece  with  the  general 
behavior  of  sheep. 

The  climate  of  the  country  lying  to  the  south  of  and 
surrounding  the  Salt  Lake  is  much  milder  than  that  of 
the  nearest  portions  of  Idaho  or  Wyoming;  the  snow 
does  not  lie  deeply,  and  the  plains,  besides  grass,  bear 
the  white  sage,  which  is  very  nutritious.  The  latter, 
after  it  has  been  nipped  by  frost,  is  apparently  much 


2o6  PRAIPJE  EXPERIENCES. 

relished  by  all  stock.  A  light  fall  of  snow  here  is  an  ad- 
vantage, as  it  enables  the  herds  to  push  out  into  the 
plains,  which  are  waterless;  the  sheep  can  eat  snow,  and 
the  herders  melt  it. 

On  these  trips  the  herders  live  in  a  small  canvas  house, 
which  is  built  on  to  the  wagon;  in  this  there  is  a  stove; 
the  bed  is  on  a  low  shelf  across  the  hinder  end,  the  en- 
trance is  on  one  side.  With  the  traps  and  supplies  of  a 
couple  of  men,  two  horses  are  all  that  are  required;  the 
wagon  does  not  move  every  day,  and  the  journeys  on 
occasions  are  short.  To  men  who  are  not  averse  to  a 
solitary  life,  and  do  not  fear  rough  times  and  exposure, 
this  wintering  with  sheep  maybe  tolerable.  A  man  who 
understands  the  work,  and  can  be  trusted  to  do  it, 
should  always  be  able  to  secure  something  better  than 
good  wages.  There  are  plenty  of  men  in  Utah  who, 
having  saved  money,  would  like  to  invest  it  in  a  band  of 
sheep.  The  sheep,  to  live,  must  travel  summer  and  win- 
ter. It  is  impossible  for  a  man  resident  in  a  town,  and 
with  a  business,  to  see  after  his  sheep  in  person;  he 
therefore  has  to  look  round  either  for  a  herder  to  man- 
age for  him,  or  a  joint-owner  to  share  in  the  specula- 
tion. The  current  expenses  are  not  heavy;  two  men  can 
through  the  year  easily  drive  two  or  three  thousand 
sheep,  with  a  little  help  at  lambing-time.  The  returns 
from  wool  and  increase  are  not  exaggerated  at  twenty- 
five  per  cent.  As  the  profit  with  sheep  much  more  than 
with  other  stock  depends  on  the  care  and  success  of  the 
men  in  charge,  the  man  who  knows  has  a  power  which 
in  some  cases  transfers  the  flock  from  the  owner's  hands 
into  his  own  in  three  or  four  years.  The  alternative, 
therefore,  to  the  proprietor  who  cannot  accompany 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  2O7 

his  own  herd  often  lies  between  seeing  his  property  de- 
stroyed through  ignorance  or  transferred  through  cute- 
ness.  There  is,  therefore,  a  good  opening  for  any  man 
thoroughly  versed  in  sheep  business  to  make  his  way 
in  Utah. 

To  make  satisfactory  arrangements  after  reaching  Wy- 
oming to  winter  the  sheep  properly  required  more  time 
than  the  season  promised.  If  a  purchaser  were  found 
readily  they  might  be  sold  to  better  advantage  than  they 
could  be  in  Utah,  but  the  readiest  plan  was  either  to  sell 
on  the  spot  or  to  drive  south.  To  one  not  trained  to  the 
profession  it  will  not  be  difficult  to  fancy  that  the  out- 
look of  a  long  winter,  in  addition  to  the  summer  spent 
in  constant  shiftings,  dirt,  and  annoyances,  would  be 
somewhat  dreary.  Whatever  the  profit,  it  might  be 
earned  too  expensively. 

As  the  road  would  soon  cross  a  railway,  I  left  the  herd 
to  follow  slowly,  and  pushed  on.  The  railway-station 
where  the  trail  crosses  is  called  Arimo;  the  town  is  called 
Oneida,  and  is  marked  in  the  railway  guide-books  as 
having,  I  think,  600  inhabitants.  It  was  hardly  a  matter 
of  surprise  to  find  that  the  two  places  together  consisted 
of  a  small  station-building,  a  store,  a  couple  of  farms 
and  the  wagons  of  an  engineering  train.  The  inhabi- 
tants, excluding  railway  workmen,  who  were  only  there 
temporarily,  might  number  a  dozen.  It  is  one  of  those 
places  the  ordinary  traveller  looks  out  upon  from  a  com- 
fortably warm  Pullman  car,  and  vainly  tries  to  imagine 
what  inducement  there  is  to  persons  to  live  in  such  a 
waste.  The  few  dwellings  stand  with  the  air  of  frozen- 
out  laborers;  the  surroundings  are  dwarfed  sage-bushes, 
almost  to  the  walls  of  the  houses;  the  men  he  sees  wan- 


2O8  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

der  listlessly  along  the  railway  embankment,  unoccupied, 
serious,  woful.  As  they  walk  down  the  train  they  pry 
into  the  windows,  as  if  longing  for  a  face  they  may  rec- 
ognize. The  post-master  comes  dragging  a  mighty 
leather  bag,  which  is  locked  but  empty,  and  changes  it 
for  another  equally  empty.  A  word  is  spoken  to  the 
conductor,  the  bell  rings,  the  train  leaves  the  sad-looking 
colony;  the  men  in  a  disheartened  manner  walk  back  to 
the  store.  Half  the  excitement  of  the  day  is  gone. 

But  any  station  is  good  enough  where  you  can  get  on 
to  the  cars  and  rejoin  civilization,  though  the  process  at 
twelve  miles  an  hour  seems  unnecessarily  prolonged. 
The  railroad  passes  through  Cash  Valley,  which  has  been 
made  a  garden  by  the  industry  of  the  Mormons,  and 
joins  the  Central  Pacific  at  Ogden;  thence  another  line 
runs  to  Salt  Lake  City. 

It  is  impossible  to  mention  either  Utah  or  Salt  Lake 
CityVithout  adding  one's  impressions  with  regard  to  the 
Mormons  and  their  religion.  Much  has  been  done  late- 
ly, by  persons  who  have  studied  both,  to  put  before  the 
English  public  a  less  prejudiced  version  than  that  which 
has  heretofore  reached  us.  I  had  not  the  time  nor  the 
opportunities  to  study  the  matter,  and  my  slight  personal 
experience  was  from  contact  with  the  farmers  of  a  few 
colonies  which  were  passed  on  the  road.  The  opinion 
formed  was  entirely  favorable  to  the  religionists;  they 
are  industrious,  thrifty,  quiet,  and  fair-dealing.  It  was 
a  great  good  chance  when  we  came  among  them,  as  we 
were  able  at  once  to  obtain  dairy  produce  and  many 
vegetables  which  were  not  procurable  among  the  usual 
American  farmers.  They  have  the  credit  of  being  hos- 
pitable and  kindly  natured  to  travellers  or  persons  living 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  2OQ 

or  working  among  them.  They  seem  to  try  more  to 
live  up  to  the  doctrines  common  to  all  Christian  relig- 
ions, and  are  more  earnest  than  the  followers  of  most 
other  sects;  they  are  great  observers  of  the  Sabbath. 
All  dispassionate  people  like  them;  it  is  in  Salt  Lake 
City  that  they  are  mostly  abused.  One  paper  of  that 
town  in  particular  seems  to  hold  a  brief  for  persistent 
and  rabid  accusations;  no  sin  is  too  gross  to  lay  to  their 
charge,  no  theory  too  far-fetched  on  which  to  found  a 
plausible  reason  for  their  persecution.  The  notion  even 
of  a  coming  degenerate  and  brutalized  race  was  seriously 
debated  in  an  article,  which  race  would  be  found  in  the 
offspring  of  mothers  raging  with  all  the  passions  of  love 
curdled  into  hatred,  and  writhing  all  day  under  the  in- 
justice and  tyranny  of  polygamous  men.  The  Supreme 
Government  was  called  upon  to  interfere  in  the  interests 
of  the  future  of  the  State,  which  would  be  marred  by  the 
aforesaid  race  of  monsters,  who  by  the  laws  of  heredity 
would  naturally  turn  to  vice  and  crime. 

I  had  the  chance  of  seeing  a  very  large  number  of  the 
Mormons,  as  Salt  Lake  City  was  full  of  people  who  had 
come  in  for  Conference;  this  is  both  an  occasion  for 
business  and  pleasure.  It  was  impossible  to  notice  any 
signs  of  the  grief  and  oppression  which  is  said  to  mark 
the  Mormon's  wife;  the  character  of  the  faces  were  ex- 
actly the  same  as  seen  in  other  Western  towns.  The 
younger  and  American-born  women  were  bright  enough, 
somewhat  showily  dressed,  and  looked  quite  equal  to  the 
care  of  themselves  and  the  safety  of  their  interests  with- 
out other  assistance;  the  older  women  had  the  hard, 
grim  faces  which  we  associate  with  Puritanism  and  that 
kind  of  fanaticism  which  suppresses  all  amusement. 


210  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

This  dull,  expressionless  sort  of  face  is  universal  out 
West,  and  is  probably  traceable  to  the  cheerless  lives, 
hard  work,  and  grinding  poverty  experienced  in  younger 
days.  The  men  looked  neither  to  be  the  better  nor  the 
worse  for  the  special  advantages  they  enjoy.  The  fact 
is,  polygamy  to  the  outsider  stands  prominently  as  an 
ugly  feature,  on  which  the  whole  of  Mormonism  is 
based;  and  that  it  depends  on  this  foundation  alone  for 
its  existence  is  a  hasty  conclusion  of  the  uninitiated.  I 
do  not  pretend  to  know;  whereas,  so  far  as  I  could  judge, 
Mormonism  is  maintained  mostly  by  the  Church  govern- 
ment. So  long  as  the  mass  of  this  sect  allow  themselves 
to  be  used  for  the  purposes  of  extending  their  religion, 
and  are  managed  by  clever  men,  the  sect  will  prosper. 
The  power  given  into  the  hand  of  their  leaders  has  so  far 
been  wielded  with  a  good  deal  of  business-like  capacity, 
and  to  the  benefit  both  of  the  religion  and  the  temporal 
prosperity  of  the  community;  and  if  the  leaders  had  not 
continually  to  fight  their  opponents,  no  doubt  the  funds 
raised  for  the  Church  would  be  used  to  better  purposes 
than  in  defending  their  peculiar  institution. 

After  all,  polygamy  is  the  only  tangible  ground  on 
which  the  State  can  interfere  with  the  Mormons.  This 
practice  is  so  contrary  to  deep-rooted  because  long- 
accepted  convictions  that  it  cannot  last,  and  the  idea  of 
a  sect  numbering  several  hundred  thousand  being  able 
to  oppose  the  declared  intentions  of  fifty  millions  is 
absurd;  plurality  of  wives  must  and  will  die  out.  But 
where  the  Mormons  make  most  enemies  is  by  the 
assumption  of  their  being  a  separate  people.  It  is  not 
reasonable  to  talk  of  the  Mormon  people  ;  they  are 
recruited  from  the  same  races  as  supply  the  bulk  of  the 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  211 

emigrants  who  surround  them  ;  but,  as  is  well  known, 
they  like  to  talk  of  themselves  as  a  race  specially  chosen 
by  Divine  inspiration,  and,  in  the  usual  biblical  jargon 
which  most  sects  adopt  in  their  inception,  they  tell  the 
world  that  they  are  set  apart  for  the  regeneration  of 
mankind.  One  of  their  fancies  is,  that  America  is  to  be 
harried  for  her  sins,  and  to  be  saved  by  the  remnant  of 
righteous  people  in  Utah.  This  talk  is  harmless  enough, 
but  is  hateful  to  the  good  American,  who  allows  of  no 
divergence  from  American  views.  This  segregation  of 
the  Mormons,  in  conjunction  with  their  Church  govern- 
ment, is  made  the  ground  of  accusations  of  disloyalty, 
and  when  such  an  open  defiance  of  the  States  law  is 
insisted  upon  as  claiming  that  polygamy  is  necessary  to 
the  practice  of  their  religion,  a  good  handle  is  offered  to 
their  enemies.  They  are  called  bad  citizens,  than  which 
no  worse  can  be  said  for  them  from  an  American  point 
of  view. 

I  asked  a  few  persons  if  the  tithe  paid  to  the  Church 
was  not  a  heavy  tax  ;  these  did  not  consider  it  so,  and 
said  it  was  given  voluntarily.  On  the  other  matter 
curiosity  would  have  been  allied  to  impertinence. 
Among  the  poorer  class  a  second  wife  is,  I  think,  now 
rare.  That  the  second  wife  is,  in  many  cases  at  least, 
assented  to  by  the  first  is  apparently  true  enough.  I  was 
curious  to  discover  how  this  consent  could  be  brought 
about  in  any  single  instance,  arguing  of  course  from  the 
premise  that  part  of  such  a  valuable  property  as  a  hus- 
band was  not  equal  to  the  whole.  The  only  partially 
satisfactory  conclusion  arrived  at  was  the  stress  of 
in-door  work.  Men  for  out-door  employment  are  always 
to  be  had,  or  nearly  always,  but  a  woman  for  household 


212  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

labor  is  scarce  and  unusual  ;  the  whole  of  the  cleaning 
and  cooking  falls  on  the  wife.  When,  therefore,  a  man 
thrives,  has  a  family,  and  hires  half-a-dozen  hands,  the 
wife's  share  of  work  is  considerably  increased  ;  at  the 
same  time,  she  may  have  grown  stiff  in  the  joints,  and 
feel  that  a  certain  indulgence  of  ease  is  both  natural  at 
her  age  and  attainable  under  the  circumstaccs.  What 
better  plan,  where  the  power  to  add  is  part  of  the 
articles,  than  to  secure  a  third  partner  in  the  firm,  which 
insures  solidarity,  whereas  a  hireling  help,  if  obtainable, 
could  not  be  entirely  trusted,  and  Madam  No.  i  would 
find  her  hands  still  full  in  assisting  and  watching  a  paid 
servant.  I  will  not  say  that  this  was  the  motive  in  any 
particular  instance,  but  it  may  be  inferred  that  some  such 
process  might  have  led  to  a  dual  control  of  household 
matters.  The  explanation  is  reasonable  in  itself,  and, 
others  failing,  may  deserve  consideration. 

The  Mormons  pretend  that  they  will  not  resist  perse- 
cution by  any  means,  except  by  prayer  to  God  to  soften 
the  hearts  of  their  adversaries,  and  that  they  will  trust 
entirely  to  Him  to  protect  them  and  to  establish  their 
religion.  It  would  be  more  practical  if  they  would  look 
ahead,  see  what  is  the  tendency  of  their  religious  prac- 
tices, and,  if  possible,  not  run  their  heads  against  a  wall; 
they  wont  hurt  the  wall.  Probably  owing  to  the  fact 
that  the  Mormons  are  being  roughly  used,  the  sympathy 
of  an  entire  stranger  to  American  ways  is  stirred  in  their 
favor.  A  short  residence  in  Salt  Lake  City,  where  the 
feeling  against  them  is  particularly  hostile,  and  is  vio- 
lently expressed,  would  naturally  rouse  an  unprejudiced 
person  in  their  defence,  and  possibly  at  the  same  time 
make  one  tolerant  of  all  their  fads,  which  would  other- 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  213 

wise  deserve  no  serious  consideration.  The  fire  on  the 
altar  of  Mormonism  is  burning  down;  if  the  politicians 
will  leave  it  alone  it  will  die  out  quietly. 

Nothing  can  be  brighter  or  lovelier  than  the  autumn 
tints  on  the  hillsides  which  overlook  Salt  Lake  City. 
The  town  itself  is  attractive,  but  falls  far  behind  both 
Denver  and  San  Francisco  in  size  or  importance.  It 
is  not  on  the  main  line,  nor  is  the  country  around  suffi- 
ciently fertile  for  a  high  state  of  culture,  notwithstand- 
ing the  extravagant  praises  which  it  has  been  customary 
to  bestow  on  the  efforts  of  the  first  emigrants  into  the 
valley.  There  are  valuable  mines  to  the  east  up  in  the 
mountains,  and  there  is  some  talk  of  a  future  boom  in 
mines  in  the  country  south  of  the  great  lake.  The  latter, 
as  usual,  are  some  of  the  richest  mines  in  the  world  ; 
but  one  hears  the  statement  so  frequently  in  diverse 
places  that  it  fails  to  impress,  particularly  when  accom- 
panied by  a  readiness  to  supply  every  one  with  some  of 
this  invaluable  property.  The  only  thing  the  miners  are 
waiting  for  is  the  extension  of  the  railway,  and  this,  as 
usual,  has  been  located  in  two  places.  The  whole  region 
in  that  direction  is,  from  all  accounts,  barren.  What  ad- 
vantage a  line  of  rails  could  obtain  by  crossing  it  is  less 
than  doubtful  ;  but  some  railroad  is  sure  to  be  found  to 
undertake  it,  if  only  to  forestall  a  rival  ;  possibly  an  ex- 
tension of  the  Denver  and  Rio  would  meet  the  case. 
Nothing  could  be  less  paying  than  the  country  which  is 
traversed  by  that  line  between  Salt  Lake  City  and  Pueblo. 
It  is  advertised  as  the  scenic  line,  and  a  short  length 
does  pass  through  some  most  Titanic  rock  scenery — an 
extension  through  waterless  deserts  may  afford  a  happy 
contrast.  A  railway  is  often  followed  by  a  feverish  spurt 


214  PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES. 

of  speculation,  and  one  or  two  mining  towns  will  prob- 
ably spring  up.  These  will  revel  in  the  glories  of  number- 
less saloons  for  a  season,  and  in  a  short  time  after  fall 
flat  as  many  other  places  have  done  ;  for  instance,  Aurora. 
But  how  these  Western  railways,  running  through  a  poor 
country,  are  to  pay  the  different  companies  who  finance 
them,  stock  them,  issue  first  preferences  on  them,  and 
water  their  shares,  is  a  branch  of  business  not  given  to 
every  fellow  to  understand. 

A  very  short  stay  in  Salt  Lake  City  satisfies  most  per- 
sons. It  certainly  may  be  called  a  pretty  town — the  trees 
and  gardens  having  a  good  effect ;  but  how  long  would 
the  latter  be  retained  when  the  land  becomes  valuable  ? 
Still  at  present  worse  places  can  easily  be  found,  and 
when  the  burning  question  is  settled  the  town  will  prob- 
ably take  a  fresh  start. 

This  narration  will,  I  think,  give  a  truthful  impression 
of  the  manner  of  life  which  must  be  followed  on  the  trail 
in  the  Pacific  States  and  territories.  It  is  not  everywhere 
so  dry  and  so  dusty  as  in  Nevada  ;  but  with  certain  al- 
lowances for  the  pleasanter  aspects  of  affairs  in  journey- 
ing through  a  better  grassed  and  better  watered  country, 
any  one  can  fancy  for  himself  how  far  he  is  likely  to  ap- 
preciate the  life.  There  may  be  difficulties  special  to  that 
portion  of  the  territories  lying  further  north,  owing  to 
heavier  timber  and  bush  into  which  sheep  might  stray, 
and  to  the  greater  cold  and  deeper  snow  which  prevail 
through  a  longer  winter.  But  wherever  it  is  followed 
the  business  of  driving  or  looking  after  sheep  is  rude  and 
tiresome.  The  daily  companionship  of  less  educated 
men  is  wearisome  ;  the  out-door  life  is  healthy  and  ex- 
hilarating ;  the  roughing  does  not  show  too  disagreeably. 


PRAIRIE   EXPERIENCES.  21$ 

Young  ffien  who  are  fitted  out  with  good  spirits  and 
manliness  have  nothing  to  dread.  America  is  a  land  of 
hope,  though  often  of  hope  deferred.  It  is  well  to  go 
and  see  it  for  yourself. 

One  thing  is  perhaps  surprising  if  you  think  of  it ; 
that  is,  why  young  men  are  satisfied  to  do  the  work  of 
farm  laborers  in  the  West,  with  all  the  added  discomfort 
of  coarse,  bad  fare,  separation  from  their  friends  and  as- 
sociates,  and  a  complete  loss  of  mental  culture.  Why 
are  they  content  to  plough  and  cart  manure  in  Iowa  ;  to 
herd  sheep  in  California,  or  cattle  in  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains ?  Are  similar  occupations  less  derogatory  because 
carried  out  at  a  distance  from  our  homes  ?  Are  they  de- 
rogatory at  all  ?  For  choice,  labor  on  an  English  farm 
would  be  lighter  and  pleasanter  ;  the  food  and  shelter  at 
the  smallest  farm-house  much  better  than  on  the  wild 
prairies  at  the  ranch  of  the  most  wealthy  cattle-owner. 
In  the  one  case  there  are  supposed  to  be  chances  ;  are 
there  none  in  the  old  country  ?  We  hear  constantly  of 
working-men  and  mechanics  who  have  tried  America 
returning  to  England  to  better  themselves.  It  is  just 
possible  that  a  young  man  who  would  himself  work 
through  the  drudgery  of  farming  in  England,  and  live 
down  to  a  very  modest  scale,  would  take  more  pleasure 
out  of  life,  at  the  same  time  escape  much  of  that  side  of 
frontier  existence  which,  when  I  heard  it  called  "beastly," 
I  could  hardly  feel  the  term  misapplied.  This  is  not 
perhaps  the  happiest  way  to  conclude  my  story  of  prairie 
experiences.  As  opinions  one  must  say  what  one  thinks, 
and  as  facts  not  more  than  one  knows,  if  within  those 
limits  none  have  a  right  to  accuse  you. 


£55. 


